Rekin

I tend to actually watch players for more than a few games before making comments about them. You showing me a youtube clip is not exactly gonna weigh more than what Ive seen many times. In terms of the money I do not need to show you any proof, its not as if your arguments provide some key insight into the finances of the club or its state. When it comes to the players you really need to be a bit more flexible when thinking. There are players who recently were world class, who are about to become world class, or who are believed to be but have yet to earn that status. You rarely know who is world class before you actually see them in action for a prolonged time in a club. Many of those considered to be world beaters today struggled occasionally before reaching their current status. A club cant instantly replace players who either didnt reach their believed potential, or who have started to decline. It is a process, just like it was for us when we first got a new midfield and striker. You need to prioritize changes. Pique was considered to be among the best CB's in the world for several years, Rakitic is a brilliant player and Alba is very good too. Bravo is a fantastic goalkeeper as well. As a matter of fact I seriously dont know if you are serious with some of those names. Alaba, Boateng, Kroos, Benzema, Pepe and Carvajal are extremely good players who belong to the top. I would love to see every single one of them in the club right now, except for Pepe who is on the decline.

It isnt strictly true though. Chelsea benefit from selling when buying as every team, but they do have the finances to do the occasional standalone big purchase. Barcelona, Munich & Real are some examples of arguably world class in almost every position. If we want to compete with them, we need to hold a similar standard. I dont mind a 10 who has a lower pass success if those passes are more penetrating. We have Fabregas and Matic for safe passes (Fabregas master key passes too though), We could make good use of a player who attacks more directly (which the stats suggest he does).

A more detailed WhoScored analysis shows a few interesting facts: From all the leagues followed, the AMC's with the highest amount of tackles are: 1. Firmino - 3/game 2. Oscar - 2,2/game 3. Naismith - 2,2/game Interceptions: 1. Firmino - 1,3/game 2. Sigurdsson - 1,2/game 3. Bojan - 0,9/game .. 12. Oscar - 0,5/game Clearances: 1. Arruabarrena - 1,4/game 2. Oscar - 1,4/game 3. Charbonnier - 0,9/game 4. Firmino - 0,8/game Ok, so this evaluates the general defensive performances of AMC's in europes best leagues. Tackles and interceptions would be the most important tangible stats, while clearances are less important but still worth looking at. We can see that Oscar is without a single doubt one of the best players when it comes to defending on his position. Let us now see how well he holds up when it comes to key passes, dribbles, amount of passes and lastly shots. Key Passes/game: 1. Payet - 3,8 2. KDB - 2,9 3. Downing - 2,8 ... 8. Firmino - 2 ... 13. Oscar - 1,5 Successful dribbles/game 1. Firmino - 4,1 2. Vazquez - 3,8 3. KDB - 3,6 ... 16. Oscar - 0,8 Accurate short-passes/game 1. Oscar - 41,6 2. Eriksen - 38,1 3. Hamsik - 35,1 ... 12. Firmino - 28,7 Shots/game 1. Calhanoglu - 3,5 2. KDB - 3,1 3. Oscar - 3 4. Firmino - 2,9 To summarize: Oscar is a very unique type of a player, one of few that contributes both in defence but also going forward. Looking over this stats and asking myself if there is any player in the world right now who can offer that kind of balance, the answer would be only one, and that is Firmino. While Oscar shines defensively, he struggles offensively. He shows his stamina with the amount of short passes and shots he takes, but the lack of key passes and dribbles showcase a lack of technique and creativity that is normally associated with a number 10. An assist here and there means nothing, you can pass someone in your own box who goes on to beat 10 man and score, but its hardly the pass that made the difference. Oscar simply contributes little to the final third of the pitch. Now, if Mou wanted a technical and creative mastermind, he might have let Mata or KDB stay, but since he is looking for someone capable in both directions, it is only fair to say that Oscar is one of the few players that fit the profile, and it will take a lot to remove him due to this. Willian have the characteristics to be able to contribute in a similar fashion, but my vote still goes to Firmino who without doubt is the most well-rounded AMC in the world. He performs better than Oscar both in the defensive aspect, but he is also a beast going forward, much more direct and constantly creates chaos in the opposition. In difference from Oscar, you dont need to add "considering his work in defense" when talking about Firmino's attack, it is already really good without that factor. Both are 23, Brazilian and 10's. I personally think it would be worth forking out a large amount for someone who is already one if the best at their position and who has the future ahead of him as much as Oscar. I personally think that a lineup next season with: Costa Hazard - Firmino - Cuadrado/Willian Matic - Fabregas Azpilicueta - Terry/X - Zouma - Ivanovic Courtois would be the most well-balanced lineup with the perfect combo of hard workers and elegant players, old and young while already good enough to win everything.

Why include any valuations? CFC is a rich club and can spend big on a player, and as one of the best clubs in the world they have every right to aim for world class at every position. We had larger problems than the 10' position before, but now that muscle and creativity in the middle together with a real striker is more than taken care off, we can start looking at other positions and try to improve them. Its not like Oscar hasnt had a chance to show off his skills. You want a better no10? Well, we can start with exploring how good Willian is there. He sure is quicker, and that matters a lot in our system. We also know that he is at least as good defensively. Do you want to look outside the club? There is Firmino who is at Oscar's age, as good defensively but adds more forward. If he was only a bit quicker he would be a dream signing.

Oscar creates more than Willian due to their different positions. You might as well say that Oscar creates more than Azpilicueta if you are going to ignore tactical factors. Still, even though Willian is on the wing he is not far behind Oscar in some key offensive statistics. Neither player really strikes me as the type with end product, but at least Willian has the pace that makes him a better fit for our side. Like The Skipper wrote a bit back, we could replace Oscar with Willian in the middle without losing a great deal. Oscar is not a bad player, but after almost three seasons Im losing hope about him really becoming world class. His development has not been substantial, in many ways he still feels like the player that started the first game last season, and he is still the player I never expect to beat his man and set up a good chance. If there is demand after him on the market and a good price to be given, I would personally sell him, but otherwise he is still an excellent squad player. My point at any rate is that CFC can do better in his position, hopefully they can go for someone who is as good with the pressing, but who can contribute going forward more. I also realize that he has his best season in terms of productivity, but I still feel like he goes invisible for large parts of a game.

It will be interesting to see how Mou will adapt him to the team. Im certain that JC will start at the bench initially with maybe ~20 mins per game in order to make sure he knows his role well. After that he will surely become a player for the right flank (although lets remember that Luis was brought in for big money as a La Liga champion and CL finalist and is nothing more than a squad player still) for a majority of the games. I would actually be interested to see a front four containing: Costa Hazard - Willian - Cuadrado Every single player has good dribbling skills and lightning pace, while 3/4 also do an excellent pressing game. Oscar has been productive of sort lately, but I am still in the camp of people who value him but do not see him as a world beater. There is the issue of natural finishers as well. Costa is one, otherwise I have to say the squad otherwise is filled with providers more than anything else. We might have to adress the number 10 position at some point in the near future.

I respect your opinion on him, but I disagree. Schurrle has scored quite a few goals, true, but it is his general impact on the play that I feel makes him too inferior to be a part of the Chelsea team. Players such as Willian and Oscar are inconsistent in the way that they dont contribute a lot of points (although Oscar has started doing so lately), but even when they have a poor game in terms of the attack, they still do a lot for the team in terms of dropping deep and pressuring throughout the game. Schurrle to me is the opposite. When he is bad he is invisible, you cant really tell that he is on the pitch. When he plays well, he still leaves some to be desired in the defensive contribution. I really like the guy, but it is obvious to me that he is a poor fit. Both gain from him leaving, just as it was with Mata. @RyanDavidson How much have you watched him? It is true that he plays centrally a lot more this season, but that is an excuse in his favor if anything. His best season by far was the last one when he kept mostly to the right and got to engage players head on and run into the box from the side. This season he might have ended up with more points, but it is his contribution on the pitch that matters, and almost everyone agree that he has not hit the heights of the previous season. Different positions lead to different stats. He might have more key passes now, but that only comes from having different responsibilities that come with playing centrally.

Schurrle contributes very little to the team. He gets the odd goal here and there which is great, but he often take shots from futile positions or take other poor decisions. If we can get a player that challenges Willian based on merit throughout the season that it is by itself an upgrade. Especially when it seems that we are basically swapping Schurrle for Cuadrado. If he actually does a job which is good enough to replace Willian then even better. Being able to throw in one of Cuadrado/Willian when chasing/defending a result is a scenario many coaches would dream about.

Yes, it is actually well deserved (even if he isnt banned yet). I like him, he is a real winner, but it needs to be said that there is a line a footballer shouldnt be crossing. Doing ankle-stomps is dangerous business, its not like throwing snot on someone but an actual psychotic thing that he really need to get out of his system. It would be great if he could play against City as the run after that isnt terrible, but if he cant then I only hope it is Remy and not Drogba who starts the next game.

A brief look at the past 1,5 seasons show that 13/14 he played more regularly at the right flank, and that it was then that he had his really good season. This season he has actually played quite a lot centrally (as in having it as his starting position) which has probably added to this season being rather mediocre. His pace, good crosses and technique are most likely at their most fruitful from the flank. If Chelsea can have their newly reported bid accepted and get what they want for Schurrle, then there wont be a large net difference.

Since Fiorentina have made it clear that it is the clause and nothing else, there is no need for negotiations with the club. Cuadrados agent could already unofficially have reached an agreement over a contract with CFC, meaning that the deal could be completed in a rather short timespan should CFC desire to go that way. My guess is that the delay is due to other deals having to be done before the Cuadrado/Costa one is carried out. Should Schurrle/Salah's departure be announced, the replacement would be there almost instantly.

I know Douglas Costa a lot less than Cuadrado, but from the games I have seen him in (exclusively CL) I dont think he is a bad player at all, without a doubt held back by the rather average team that Schaktar is today. He would be an upgrade on Salah I believe, and possibly on Schurrle (as in how much he can contribute to Chelsea, not in a pure comparison). Still, would much rather we go for the colombian. The team would be improved from swapping Costa for Salah though, even if it is a lot of money for a marginal upgrade.

1. He isnt shit. To say that points towards a personal bias against him as he was one of the best players in serie A last season. 2. The point was that some players need time to adapt, others dont. How long did Costa need? How long did Hazard need? They might be better players, but it is still nothing you can generalize to the point of assuming that he wont add anything to the team for a long time. 3. As a person working in finance I can tell you that stats are a tool to support decisions. You use them to remove unknown variables. Costa had good stats in La Liga right? We are not low on players who were good in their domestic leagues and continued being good in CFC. 4. Im glad that Im amusing you, but you are again not really getting the point. If Cuadrado is deemed to improve team for a few years, than that is what matters, not what we can sell him for when he isnt good enough anymore. You are honestly making me laugh when you keep claiming that no one knew about him before the world cup, as if he was some random who had 5 good games. Maybe the problem is that your knowledge of players dont extend far enough?

The directness? One has end product and the other doesnt. Willian is rarely dangerous in the box, while Cuadrado is good at causing problems there. They share qualities going back, but moving forward I find them very different.

Its not all about stats, but they play a part of the analysis. Regardless, I cant find numbers to support your statement. Schurrle has hardly played this season, so it feels unfair to compare them 14/15. Last season Cuadrado racked up more points in total (but also played a good deal more, sure. If you compare point/min they were actually quite similar, but see my last post about keeping up higher averages). Cuadrado had a good deal higher averages in shots per game, successful dribbles and key passes. That is while simultaneously having better stats on the defensive side. In terms of how far back you go; it is useless to look throughout their whole careers as again, Cuadrado is a converted wingback. He had very back defensive stats back then though. Even going back two seasons to when Schurrle played in Leverkusen you will still see that Cuadrado has better stats except in shots per game. Stats are not everything, but they reduce the amount of unknown variables. Many members here imply that they have never seen him in action, and in that case stats, the opinion of people who has seen him, highlight videos and vs videos are the best tools. I have seen him quite a lot on TV, and also twice live, and I base my opinion of him mostly on seeing him in games. My opinion is reinforced by his favorable statistics, not based on them. EDIT: @The Mak 1. Actually fair market value 2. We do not know anything about that. Some players take to the league right away, others don't. In other words speculation. 3. Opinion and speculation, that kind of analysis should be left for the people who make a living out of it. Stats point towards him being enough of an improvement though. 4. What is the resell value of Fabregas or Costa? We can not only buy players with selling them in mind. The idea is for them to play well, improve the team and then leave when they have reached a point where they cant earn their keep. Unless they fail right away the time of that usually occurs with higher age. 5. Opinion Not trying to sound like an ass, but those aren't exactly striking arguments. A forum thrives when people come in with opinions based on at least some sort of facts rather than just saying "he sucks", "no THX" etc. Thinking that Cuadrado is the wrong player is fair enough, but its hard to know what you in this instance is basing this opinion on.

Most of those stats are averages rather than absolute values. High averages are harder to keep up for a prolonged amount of time. Say a player has three amazing games and then gets injured for the rest of the season, it will lead to very high averages for that player. Another might play the whole season with very good games mixed in with the occasional bad one and because of it end up with far lower averages. Willian has played more than enough games to show his true self.

What do you base that opinion on? Cuadrado played as a wingback a few seasons ago, so his stats wouldnt be better than they are in the past. This season he has played almost exactly the same amount of time as Willian in a worse team that has scored 24 goals fewer than Chelsea so far. In those minutes he has 4 goals and 4 assists, while Willian has 1 of each. It is also worth mentioning that Cuadrado's last season was better than any that Willian has ever had, even though Willian played in both the league in Ukraine and Russia before Chelsea, both worse than Serie A. He also averaged a higher amount of tackles and interceptions than Willian both this season and the previous one, while being both more productive and achieving a higher amount of successful dribbles. Basically, he has shown himself to be better than Willian in both key offensive and defensive statistics over the last 1,5 seasons. Who on this board would say no to a player than can retain (or even somehow improve) Willian's defensive contribution, while actually scoring and assisting at the same time? It is exactly what Chelsea needs. Can he fail here? Sure, but that goes for every single player out there.

Probably not, seeing as Chelsea is likely to have different scouts in different leagues. Skipping the sarcasm though it is not a completely similar scenario. Moses and Salah were bought partially for their potential, Cuadrado is too old for that. Marin is heavily believed to have been brought before the post CL-win revamp. Willian and Schurrle were good players of which only one has been a failure. You will always hit and miss if you shoot often enough.

Haha, some of the comments here. I suggest we buy a hard working, defensively able two-footed right winger who has scored 16 billion billion goals in the last two seasons and is available for £13m, he seems to be the only one fitting our profile for what we need. People, seriously. Ok if you have watched him a lot and actually dont believe in him, nothing wrong with that. But to simply look at his goalratio, a couple of vs videos and then dismiss him because he didnt do god knows what is simply laughable. How many of those dismissing him can honestly say that they have seen him play in more than 15 full games? I know someone who has seen him for more than 15 games and who isnt dismissing him. Whatever scout working for Chelsea who recommended him.

Again, this is one of the few players that can match Willians workrate and defensive skills while actually being a better attacking outlet. Is that not what we have been moaning after for quite a while? People complain about him not being "world class", but how many of those are available now or in the summer? What does that even mean? The club might know something about Reus that we do not and besides, a wise investor never puts all his eggs in one basket. Cuadrado had a smashing season 13/14 and an excellent world cup, and even with his slightly worse form this season he is still one of Serie A's best wingers. If we wanted to close a game, an offensive containing Willian, Oscar, Cuadrado and Costa would be as close to "you shall not pass" as you can come. I really believe in this purchase, one of the better options we could get for RW.

It would make sense, Schurrle is hardly happy with the amount of time he gets and its only a matter of time before he leaves. I personally rate Cuadrado highly, he has brilliant technique (although can be selfish sometimes) and is quick both with and without the ball. He is a more direct player which is why he has racked up a nice amount of points the last two seasons. If go plus/minus 5m while replacing Schurrle with Cuadrado I consider it a great deal. Cuadrado has a past as a wingback so he knows how to defend, and he is rather hard working. He fits us much better than poor Schurrle, who I cant help but feel rarely gets involved in the game when he does get minutes. Cuadrado is more similar to Hazard and is actually comfortable on the right side, and he works in a similar way by being a big threat both on counters but also in the box. Having an attack that is spearheaded by Costa, Oscar, Hazard and Cuadrado would be a real nightmare for defenders. I rate Willian, his defensive skill is immense, but I feel that it isnt enough to justify him as a starter. Many other teams that has seen more success recently has shown that the defensive side of their wingers shouldnt be the main attribute. Willian is perfect to throw in to close a game down, but I dont know how many times he has frustrated me by not succeeding with his end-product.

He had a shaky start to the season in my opinion, but I would say that it was due to Cesc not yet being completely comfortable in the central partnership initially. It is after all no coincidence that as Fabregas has taken more defensive responsibility, Matic has started to look more solid. They have a better understanding about what to do when one goes forward, who covers what spaces and other things that you need to develop through mutual experience rather than by a powerpoint in the dressing room. All in all he has been one of, if not the best, central midfielder in the league. I thought Mikel had an acceptable game against Newcastle by his standards, but I still thought that it was obvious what a difference Matic makes. It is possible that Matic looked better last season because we played more cautiously, but also because of the contrast to different pairing combinations of Lampard/Mikel/Ramires (its amazing how much stronger we have become). Cesc also takes a lot of the spotlight (ridiculously good player).

I have to say that I too find Mou's decision poor this time. The success this season depends very much on players such as Fabregas, Matic and Costa, not to mention a few others, and yet they get to play most of a basically meaningless game. Imagine if Matic or Fabregas got a serious injury in the 80th minute, how idiotic and needless would that have been? Injuries are hard to guard against, but one thing the manager can do is not to risk key players in games that are utterly meaningless, and certainly refrain from keeping them on the pitch even after the game is all but won. The argument in favor of doing what he did could be to improve moral by winning after having lost to fucking pardew again, but with 2-0 at halftime and 3-1 with a good portion of the game left, even that argument falls flat. I understand that introducing youngsters gradually might be beneficial, but 15-20 min is the least RLC should have received. I guess it was meant as a carrot to RLC, to show him that there is more to get if he provides the effort, but I still think that the decisions of Mou were poor yesterday.

I wanted Koke ahead of Fabregas when both were heavily rumored to come, even though I would happily take either back then. With the success that Fabregas have had so far its hard to really force some tears over missing Koke, but I still think that he is a fascinating player. His creativity is not as good as Fabregas's, but he makes up for it with being a very dynamic, defensively solid and able to do well in several positions (enabling him to stay relevant in more than one formation). My dream centre midfield was Koke and Matic slightly deeper with Pogba as the forward one in a 4-3-3 (absolutely perfect combination of solidity, muscle, technique, creativity and threat forward), but with Fabregas here it is no longer possible. I still think however that a midfield with Koke, Fabregas and Matic would be highly viable (with Matic and Fabregas as they are now and Koke as the more forward one, essentially replacing Oscar in a 4-3-3). Oscar has been excellent this season, so there is no need to rush it, but having four world-class players for three positions is not too much. Yes he would be very expensive, but Chelsea are approaching a point where they have excellent depth in most departments (CB might need some looking into though) and would benefit from adding quality rather than quantity (and Liverpool/Spurs have shown how much value you get from several kind of good players over few really good). Add to that our excellent financial position right now and buying Koke does not seem like a pipe dream. Still, he should not be a priority, I would hold CB and RW as positions needing reinforcing earlier. There is also the situation of a few promising youngsters who if given the chance might turn out to be right for the role Koke would have (RLC especially).

Im happy Willian got some points yesterday, but I dont think he really convinced as much many claim (my opinion of course). First of all his goal should never have been one, a better keeper would have made short work of it. Second his decision making and vision is still mediocre for lack of a better word. He had a crystal opportunity to pass Costa just before he got subbed, and at the end when he created Hazard's chance there was an even better pass available to Schurrle. Willian is simply not good at providing through balls and both times went with the easier "pass right next to me" rather than the diagonal through ball that would have created two one-on-ones from excellent angles. His work rate is still immense and so is his defensive contribution, but he should not really change too many opinions when it comes to his offensive skills based on yesterdays performance. I think he had one of those games where things went his way and the opposition was too poor to trouble him much. I still believe in him as a player though, right now he is without a doubt the best choice for RW in the starting lineup.