The Big Drog

Tbh I don't think Ancelotti's team did have much variety in it. Im not saying that the one style of play we utilised under Ancelotti wasn't more attractive on the eye than Mourinho's, Im simply saying that Mourinho's squad offered him a greater variety in the play, not a more attractive style.

Ye that's true and is probably one of the reasons why we wont pay the mental money required for him.

It's been that way for years, we haven't had variety in our play since Mourinho. The squad was only ever built to play one way, once that fails we crumble so easily. One of the reasons for the AVB appointment is that he is seen as a progressive, attacking coach, I genuinely believe, given the time and money, he can bring a fluid, attacking style to Chelsea, a change that is long overdue.

I like how you have managed to look only at the positives and have closed your eyes entirely to the negatives. Remember how comprehensively we were beaten by Inter Milan? How about the drubbing against Wigan at the DW? Then in his second season it all went downhill fast, remember that series of games against Man Utd? Horrific.

Im not taking credit away from Carlo, he did very well to squeeze one last title winning performance from that squad. However I've always felt confident that he wasn't the right man to take us forward and rebuild the squad and stamp a different style on a squad of his making.

At least AVB seems to be a progressive coach with his eye on the future, Ancelotti was a manager best known for keeping an ancient AC Milan team together for far too long.

It looked like the Villa player on the ball was about to dribble into the box, Raul Meireles was too late to close him down, there wasn't enough pressure on the ball from the midfield so Luiz felt he had to cover the space that the Villa player (Agbonlahor I think) looked like he was about to run into.

A new squad?

We tried to sign Modric in case you missed out on that rumour. Also its commonly known that Chelsea managers aren't the only ones who have a say on our transfers.

Ye, I've always been impressed with him, physically he is absolutely right for the Premier League, technically he is very good, also the standard of the Premier League has declined so much that it would be easier for him to make a big impact than it was for Ronaldo when he was at Man Utd.

This must be the worst Chelsea team since Roman took over the club. A goalkeeper who is past his best, no right back, Terry on the decline, Lampard past it, Essien with knees made of Tesco brand jelly, Drogba past his prime, our 50 million record signing is crap (but still the best striker we have by a very long distance), Malouda and Kalou useless (but we already knew that) and with no great young hope on the horizon. It is bleak, very bleak. It is the same problems, no creativity in midfield, had loads of possession but couldn't break down Villa, barely any penetration down the flanks, nobody in between the Villa lines, too slow to move the ball through midfield and far too many aimless shots from midfield. Top 4 now looks like an uphill battle and that is depressing, when did we go from Champions League finalists with an elite squad to top four outsiders, our decline has been a slow burn but it has finally hit and now we will once again rely on Roman Abramovich spending mass amounts of money and hope that this time he finds the right players to rejuvenate a dying squad. Tgis kind of defeat has become more and more common since our prime days under Mourinho, we are so very far below the very best in Europe and, worst still, we are below the standard required for a top four Premier League club. Positives? Drogba won a penalty and scored it. Luiz played well at the back. That is the end of the positives. Another awful performance, another awful result and that is becoming more and more common.

Rodwell isn't in Romeu's league, what a poor replacement that would be, to go from the Barcelona starlet to the average, typically English Rodwell.

It would be a wild fee to pay but he is a supreme talent, a hugely talented footballer in every respect. I honestly think he could have the same kind of impact on the Premier League as Ronaldo did.

We really could do with a top quality right back.

I think you missed the bit where Barcelona and Real Madrid stormed ahead of every other club. Honestly did you really think that we would get such a talented young player from Barcelona without them covering their own interests? Of course not, to think otherwise is simply naive. You are looking at the deal as some sort of negative symbol, in reality we all know that Barcelona and Real Madrid are on another level. You have to look at the positives, we have a fantastic young player currently playing in our midfield, to the extent that Barcelona see him as good enough to be a member of their first team squad, lets enjoy it while it lasts.

Not necessarily happy for our club but happy for the player who gets to live out a dream of his playing a big role for Barcelona. And I suppose we could take some pride in having helped to develop him as a player.

Almost every top young player wants to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona, on top of that he was actually schooled by Barcelona, he has strong links to the club so of course he will probably want to go back there. I don't think he sees our club as beneath him, he is proving his top level worth with us, we are reaping the benefits of that (one such benefit being less playing time for Mikel) and when the time comes he will probably move back to Barcelona, with his reputation significantly enhanced and giving Barcelona yet another top class option to call upon.

From a realistic point of view. Cech Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole Ramires, Romeu, Modric Sturridge, If not Drogba then basically any other striker would be an improvement on current options, Mata

Personally Im not a fan. His form this season has been poor for Bolton, to me he seems to be a generic English centre back, I think we should be aiming for better than that. However at 7 million he might provide decent cover.

Whether its a buy back clause or a first refusal clause seems to be open to debate, though judging the quotes from his agent it seems that if Barcelona do come calling, Romeu will jump at the chance to return to his club, though encouragingly it does say that he will stay until at least 2013. I think it is a good move. We have gotten an extremely talented player for 2 years who can help us challenge in different competitions and Barcelona allow their young play some top level first team experience. If he decides to stay then brilliant, if not then it will have been 2 good years of service and hopefully he can make his mark in the Barcelona first team because he is a fantastic footballer.

Nobody suits the current Chelsea set up than Didier Drogba, and it is certainly more than 5. Perhaps you should be a little bit more grateful that the great man has stepped p his game when others have faltered so severely when he could just as easily run down the last year of his contract with his mind purely on a big money move to China.

You just know this is another player destined for Spain, he is a top young talent and almost inevitably the vast majority of the very best young players in the world end up in Spain.

Like the poster above, I very much doubt Real Madrid want to sell Higuain given his excellent form this season and his non disruptive attitude even when he is rotated with Benzema. A hugely talented striker, would be ideal for the flowing football AVB is trying to implement and, Drogba aside, would be a big improvement on our current striking options.

Honestly you can't tell me that the "this time Torres will come good" phrase isn't wearing thin, not only that but saying it without any kind of justification is just ridiculous. He doesn't warrant a starting spot on merit. I genuinely don't hate Torres, I've always been a fan of his but I honestly think that his signing might well be the worst in football history, Kaka would have run him close but he was excellent towards the back end of last season and this season too, unless Torres miraculously turns it around, ala Kaka, then you've got to face facts, Torres won't ever come good to the extent that we expected when we signed him and certainly not to the level we have come to expect from Didier Drogba.

I think Mikel is as opposite to Gattuso as you could ever hope to get for a central midfielder.