Barbara

@iseah100 you can make on free transfer a week, and it can cumulate into two if you don't make any change in a gameweek (but no more than that). For each additional transfer you make they'll discount 4 points from your total in the week. If you already saved, yes, you're done unless you want to lose points. Ask Steve the codes, you can enter the standard league at any time.

if that's the premise of the article above, it proves why it's a very poor one... I didn't know - as good as he was - that Willian was one of the Chelsea's player of the season - maybe except in nomination. He wasn't at all.

better than Mikel... he has a lot of potential and long term replacement for Matic if he continues to develop well. I don't mind Mikel staying, but if it's at the expense of van Ginkel leaving, I think it's stupid. If it's not related, then okay... Matic won't play all games even in the EPL... if last year Mourinho used Marco in a UCL match, why this year couldn't he use whenever Matic is unavailable or rested?

if we do that we're stupid... we shouldn't make any definitive deal with a 21-yo with tons of potential...

yeah, we seem to be willing to ship away one of our potential good young players because a guy wants a passport. I didn't know we became a charity institution. I mean, if it doesn't come as a sacrifice for the club, okay, keep Mikel there so he can get his English passport, but now we're sacrificing a young talent because of a damn passport? They play the same position, Mikel wasn't that much used last season, with Cesc in the team, Ramires could be a direct substitute to Matic as well. The obvious player to leave in the midfield - for loan or offloaded - was Mikel but it seems we won't make it because of a passport...

hopefully he'll grow back to that hair, his new haircut is terrible.

posting here instead of Oscar's or Cesc's because he's center and front Oscar looks like a Bale hybrid, Cesc is perfect true to his real self though

that match was completely atypical. We can't take anything from that. Iva was on spoiled drugs that day...

Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news Fernando Torres and Mattia Destro will not be in Chelsea and Roma swap deal, says agent

people fail to recognize/understand that it's better to have two hybrids players than a pure #10 and a pure #8: we have better coverage with a #10 that can play like a #8 and we have the surprise/dangerous element with a #8 that can play #10. In an unexpected situation, Oscar can recover the ball for us as he did for Costa's goal and Cesc can come and give passes like the ones he gave to Schurrle and Iva. The chemistry, the complementing and complimenting makes it harder for the opposition to figure us out. We have a morphing midfield - just the way I love - where players have more than one role and responsibility. It feels like instead of a line of players simply moving forward or backward we have a bunch of players that move circularly up and down, I don't know how to explain in English properly but imagine a fixed lined moving up and down the pitch, you identify the position each player plays and you move your own to mark, attack, stop them. Now if those players are exchanging not only positions but roles all the time the movement isn't only vertical, but horizontal and circular as well so instead of the same targets being in their expected positions you have them interchanging and moving towards you as if a triangle had come to life. That's much harder to mark and pass by than a fixed line. Oscar can and hopefully will improve his offensive contribution and passing in general. Cesc hasn't disappointed me at all with his tackling, quite the opposite, he's working his socks off on and off the ball, Matic is a very complete #6 with technical quality to come ahead and contribute too. If they were ever so fixed as the traditional #6, #8 and #10 - given that none of them is that fast (all of them lack some relevant amount of pace, although they can sprint sometimes), the exchanging is not only a differential, but nearly a need. If they're isolated in their initial position, being a bit slower than we would have wanted, we'd have problems when we're dispossessed, as they're covering one another all the time, one will always be somewhere he wasn't two seconds ago to confuse the opposition. I do think we need to drill those exchanges better (as I said, I thought Iva was a bit exposed against Burnley), but chemistry comes with time, I'm not worried at all.

even technically he wasn't as bad as he had been the last four months of last season. He isn't on top of his game yet, far from it, but he wasn't a disgrace either. It's been considerable improvement individually from him compared to last season, partially because of Cesc's presence and his new role in the team and partially because he seemed to be 100% into the match, which isn't something we could say about many of his matches in the second half of the season...

nah, only the usual suspects. Some people won't ever like Oscar, no matter what, and some just look at the game as if it was FIFA or PES... either you perform out of this world and shines and flashes or you suck. It's a lot about the way some view the sport. So for one reason or the other, it's always the same suspects. My posts here were to correctly firstly, myself, as I had a bad impression of him at first, with him being at most average. And then Dion and I were discussing it. The usual suspects I don't even acknowledge anymore...

forgot to address the first part of your post, I'm okay with our 3 CBs available and as I said many times, the only piece this squad is missing is a better quality second striker. My point earlier this morning on Iva's thread and last page were more about how we set up our defense than our defense having a problem. If we set up Iva as the leader and Cahill complimenting him, we're good. Either way I want Cahill to look more comfortable on the ball. Luiz had ups and downs during his time with us, but under Rafa he was our best defender... but I think we're better off without him now. He finally convinced me that he won't overcome his mental approach of the game and will do irresponsible things more often than I think a top club can afford. I'm not sure I understood the bold part. You mean Ivanovic could do a job temporarily - let's say this season if we needed him - and then next season we should pursue one of those guys? I couldn't follow you, I guess. And the last line of your post is absolutely true. We've been insanely spoilt with JT, not only technically, but the leadership, the commitment, the dedication. Everything about that man is absolutely fantastic and everything he's given to us during all his time here, but especially the last years is invaluable and he can't be replaced at all. We can maybe find a player to fill his shoes as a CB (even then it's hard because he's incredibly technical in such a way his weaknesses don't compromise his end product), but we'll never replace the leader, the legend, the captain. That's going to take a long time, if ever. It's not only about his attitude, but also who he is.

so we're back to my first point, Cahill isn't the man to lead our defense. I guess I said in one of my posts last page I trust Iva to lead us more than Cahill... I think Ivanovic is a good CB, I have bad memories of him and Luiz three seasons ago, and then Cahill and Luiz. I have all kind of bad memories with our defense in the EPL the year we won the Champions League. But then we have the Champions League matches...

and who's the reference, the rock as people called, in a partnership between Iva and Cahill? and that's without being clever as TOPTB calls it. It's no nonsense but with a lot of quality. You don't see him doing clever, flashy things. He's always no nonsense, but also pretty fantastic as well. Top quality on the ball.

I'm not writing him off, I'm saying if things go south, is Cahill the man to lead our defense? It's a possibility. as I said a few times a slight concern I have, but nothing I think will compromise exactly because I don't see JT missing a great deal of the season whether for injury or technically... Still only @DYC., @Madmax shared their opinions if needed for a long stretch, Cahill can lead our defense line. They're as doubtful as I am. edit: also I just pointed out that he's carrying on the same mistakes he's made at the end of the season. I think in both occasions they happened due to physical conditions. Then because he was already really tired, having played nearly all games for us that season. Now because it was still pre-season and too early for him to already be on top. But at his age, the thing is we'll never know when a physical problem will present itself and just because he's been reborn technically many times it doesn't mean the final time he won't recover won't happen. JT won't go the rest of his life playing at high level. At some point he'll start declining, it happens to all players. He may choose to stop before that happens, or to continue and try to reborn again, we don't know, but at some point it'll be too much for him.

Let's not forget that Eden - who has never been know for recovering physical fitness that fast - has had two and a half weeks of training before the Burnley match. So given what should be the standards and expectations about his form I do believe we saw him on some of his best. His dribbling was very objective and as always disconcerting. People maybe want to compare this performance to one he has had in his best moments for us. It's not fair, he's known as a slow starter, he takes a while to reach his best form, so everything considered, he was much better than I expected in the first match of the season and was influential without being the guy who shone more. Seriously, the match Cesc and Iva had, it's hard to shine more than they did because they were directly involved in all three goals... but Hazard was really, really good, especially given that was the first match of the season.

I don't want someone clever with it, just more comfortable on the ball. For a defender of his caliber he can definitely look better without looking 'clever'. Also I don't know if he won't miss having Terry as the reference and the rock as you guys called by his side. Do you think if JT has a bad season (as I said he's carrying on his form for the end of the last season, a few mistakes are starting to show) or has an injury and is actually dropped from the first team, a partnership between Iva and Cahill, Cahill can be the rock himself? That's my main concern. Is he the guy that compliments the rock well or can he be the rock?

exactly why having this guy is important... the moment JT doesn't have a good season - and let's remember he is simply carrying on his end of season, where he also looked out of sorts and made mistakes in important matches for us, then we have to trust Cahill to lead the defense? I trust Iva more as the focal point and that's coming from someone that actually prefers Iva as a FB... anyway, I've always felt that Cahill played so well because he felt confident with Terry by his side and learned from him. It's one thing to have Terry make a mistake, it's another thing to have someone else playing by his side. I'm slightly worried, but nothing that I think is compromising. I'm not talking in that way. I'm talking about confidence... a guy confident on his partner can be more confident on himself. We saw Cahill take his game to a new level. He wasn't the same playing in the WC, for example, although he wasn't as bad as I saw many making him out to be. And do you really think he looks comfortable on the ball with the slightest pressure? If he's all by himself, he looks okay, an opponent closing in and he seems to almost panic and has to get rid of the ball the quickest and easiest way he can think about.

I feel the opposite. I feel Terry made Cahill look good, JT was the key in our defense and it actually propped Cahill to improve his game. And he's flustered and insecure with the ball. He always gets rid of it as fast as he can as if he doesn't have the confidence to walk/run with it for 2 meters. If our coverage isn't as close and populated as it was last year, this may cause him a problem, sometimes there won't be someone near him for him to pass and he'll either roof or shoot it to the sidelines, giving possession away right away... if someone gets the throw in quickly, we're once again in danger. He needs to work his confidence to do at least the basic with possession, he seems a tad too scared and sometimes the way he gets rid of the ball or his lack of technicality is nearly embarrassing for someone that was just a contender for being the captain of his NT and who's part of the #1 CB partnership in a club like Chelsea. He needs to look more composed...

edit: didn't see SJ post whatever, YT link for those who maybe are at work and can't access FB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-KLmxjGj9E

Someone mentioned here or on the match thread (I won't look for it now) that all dangerous Burnley attack attempts came from his side implying - or directly saying, I can't remember - that it was because Iva was bombing forward to support the attack. Wrong and wrong. As I just said on Oscar's thread, I re-watched the first half and I paid close attention to what could have been our shortcomings when defending and you know what I realize in like 4 out 5 Burnley attacks from their left? Iva was all by himself to mark whoever was there. Schurrle wasn't there most time and neither was one between Matic and Fàbregas. So it seems like an automatic conclusion to 'blame' Ivanovic offensive inclination in the match for the easier route Burnely found on that side, but except when Oscar was on that side of the pitch (and he didn't spend a lot of time there), many times Matic, Schurrle, Hazard (according to his heat map he stayed more in the right than in the left for some reason) and Fàbregas were in the middle or in the left or even coming back from the attack and there was only Iva with Cahill behind him. Burnley had two strikers and at some point even SkySports broadcast highlighted them and they were both closer to the left wing - exactly Iva's side. But not even in one of those attacks Iva was out of position, but in most of them (although they weren't many) he was all by himself. It's early days and I'm sure Mourinho will fix our positioning, especially in the defense, but as I said in the fullbacks thread I think maybe we'll have a small problem to fix. With a team more intended on attacking fast and with a lot of people involved, keeping possession and exchanging fast, short passes, maybe it exposes a little bit the defense and I'm not entirely convinced JT/Cahill work that well with less coverage. JT is slow and Cahill, although much more composed these days, is still flustered and unsure on the ball. Off the ball he's much better than on the ball. So he may tackle, for example, and then get rid of the ball in any way because he doesn't feel that confident if the opposition players are somewhere near him. If with the tackle he gets the ball away or stays with the ball and leaves his opponent behind, he's excellent, but in any other situation he doesn't look confident. And although I didn't catch any particular compromising mistake by him the lack of someone else around him and Iva (as he plays in the right side of the defense most times) resulted in what we saw. A team with a little bit more quality attacking than Burnley could have explored that much better. It's nice to have the little triangles of Oscar, Fàbregas and Matic moving around the pitch and I don't think it compromises the defense, as long as at all times one of three stays a bit behind, especially towards the right as at least with Azpilicueta in the left, our LB will rarely be much high in the pitch... I wouldn't change a thing about the way Iva played and if Iva and Luís play together, I think they'll take turns supporting the attack and that's how it should be, but as Oscar is alternating with the pivot players, one among our three midfielders should hold position a little bit more. I'm not even talking about the big teams here, as I don't expect us to approach big teams the way we did Monday. But teams such as Newcastle, Villa, Southampton, and maybe even Everton (I say even because I expect Mourinho to keep the same approach against them) will require more attention from us in that aspect.

I re-watched the whole first half again in a more tactical and detailed way. And yes, people were absolutely unfair on Oscar - including me in my first assessment of his performance. 1) If you watch closely the whole team at times played the ball fast, getting rid of it quickly to the closest teammate. I think it's something Mourinho asked - they drilled those things a lot, Mourinho talked about drilling those things as well (quick passing under pressure or not). But only Oscar was criticized for that, but I saw Fàbregas, Hazard, Costa, Schurrle, Matic doing it at least a handful times each. 2) During the whole first half Oscar was the guy who set our attack in motion at least five times (I didn't count, but I remember at least five at the top of my mind) and by setting it in motion I don't mean starting it near the CBs, but changing the tempo and actually making the ball reach our attackers near or inside the 18-yard box. Our very first time reaching the final third was a long ball by him to Costa - an accurate one. At least three times his pass was the immediate one before the potential assist from a shot on goal, a blocked shot or a last minute tackle by the defense. I don't blame anyone for not noticing the good things he did, he wasn't spectacular in the eye and in a night where Cesc, Iva, Costa, Hazard and Schurrle were really eye popping, is hard to catch little basic Oscar doing his thing. When I watched live I was working and I can never watch matches properly while writing reports of the highlights at the same time and I thought he was meh. Not good, not bad with a few atypical misplaced passes. Then the second time I've watched streaks of the match - basically from many individual vids (Cesc, Costa, Hazard) I realized that Oscar was involved in a relevant way at least three times. Now I really rewatched the match (first half only though) and I paid attention to our movement, positioning and players and my eye often caught him and also something else someone pointed out in the Ivanovic thread, that I'll be there in a bit to discuss. All in all I think that was his best match since the Southampton one in January (if I remember correctly he did well against Arsenal as well and another match). It's still far from the matches he did early last season for us, but at the same time with now so many guys with better tools than him - whether it's dribbling, pace, vision, passing - I don't think we'll see much of those matches anymore. Jack of all trades, master of none (maybe except recovering possession in the final third) that he is, someone will always look better than him with their dribbles, runs, passes, through balls and therefore will be more influential, but he'll contribute in his discreet way... he isn't flashy, he looks awkward on the ball, he seems clumsy sometimes and he doesn't aspire much confidence because of his nearly uncomfortable-looking style of conducting the ball and passing, but he does contribute in his own way. He isn't on his best physical condition yet so I think he will improve his passing and finish some, but he'll mainly set the stage for others to shine. I think it's a fitting role given that he isn't a 9+ player in any aspect of his game...

Except you're using double standards here... Iva was as solid defensively as Azpili - and both were average supporting the attack. While Azpili is slightly better linking up and crossing, Iva is miles and miles ahead of him in goal threat from set-pieces. As I say all the time, it's okay to give stick for Iva for his nearly nonexistent offensive contributions (Monday was an exception, but then again he was much better under Carlo offensively than now), but it never ceases to amaze that Azpili's nearly zero contributions don't get the same amount of stick. The difference between them attacking from the wings is really a small one, whereas Ivanovic is always good in set-pieces. So while I absolutely love Azpili, with Luís here, I'd go with Luís and Iva when Luís is fully adapted or at least more comfortable. Everybody remembers how consistent Azpili was - mostly defending - yet nobody mentions how consistent Iva was... Also I'm one of those few people who prefers Iva as a FB rather than a CB although I do expect him to play an important role as a CB. Someone mentioned above and it may actually make sense: maybe the reason why our defense doesn't look as good as last year is because Terry + Cahill works wonders when they have plenty of coverage ahead of them and around them. Maybe now we're going for a more offensive style they won't look as solid. It's still too early to say, but that's definitely one of the possible reasons.

Cech puts a whole bag of ice in the water before taking it. In Beckham's you can see a lot of ice on the floor after he takes it.Willian - I guess - you can also see. there are many vids I've seen you can clearly see the ice on the floor...