Barbara

I have a few things to say about this whole ordeal, some of which I've already said, some of which I haven't. 1) Lukaku ran away from competition last year. End of it. Yes, there was WC, but if his main goal was to displace Benteke he left because he wasn't sure he could displace Torres, Ba and Eto'o? Displacing Benteke was much harder than displacing at least two of those three. Benteke is no wonder (imo still better than Lukaku though) but he certainly is better than Torres and Ba comparatively, meaning that playing for Belgium and Villa he's better than Torres and Ba playing for Chelsea. 2) He thinks of himself more than he actually is. He wants things handled to him in a silver plate because he thinks he's earned them by scoring double figures in mid-table teams. Ba also did the same and look how different things worked for him at Chelsea. Also, Lukaku seemingly played bad for a streak at Everton last season because he was overplayed in his great start of season. So he wants to play week in and out, but when he does he shows he doesn't have stamina to keep it up - or at least that's what many Everton fans said about his acute level drop after very good first months. Not that worthy the investment and effort if you ask me. A player that is burned out after three months is something I won't miss dearly. 3) Sturridge and Lukaku are and have always been worlds apart. We made a mistake with Sturridge because of Torres mainly. If Lukaku leaves and reaches Daniel's numbers elsewhere I'll still support letting him go while I don't support letting Daniel go. It's not only about the goals, it's also about the attitude. It's a combination of both. Lukaku's attitude about a few things couldn't be worse (speaking to the media, thinking of himself morr than he is, wanting things given to him without fighting for them, running away from competition). It's a whole bad package. How many goals does he have to offer to make up for all those headaches he gives from time to time - quite often btw? Mourinho talked about dressing room disruption with Shaw's wages. Which is true (although let's not fool ourselves, he's also trying to disrupt their dressing room), but the principle is the same with Lukaku's entitled attitude. Costa - who scored frigging 34 goals - came here and when the interviewer implied he was a nail starter he immediately corrected him in that assumption and said if he wants to start matches he'll have to fight with Torres and prove his worth. Don't you think other players could be annoyed by Lukaku's approach, believing he's already done everything to prove he should start for us (barely ever wearing our shirt at all), while many of them - striker position or not - had to work their arses off with us to be in our first team or did the same in another top club? I'm not saying it would happen, but it's also a possibility. 4) He isn't that good or suitable for us anyway. He could be very good one day - but I don't see a high ceiling for him tbh - but even if he excels in what he's already good I don't think he has the qualities to actually be a top player in a club like Chelsea. It's Ba all over again. When you're in a mid-table team, other teams approach you differently than when you're in a top club, favorite to win every competition and match they enter. Defenses, midfielders play differently against Everton compared to what they do against Chelsea and Lukaku's good qualities (he has them, I'm not denying that) are much more suitable for playing in a team like Everton than at Chelsea. Teams play extra-defensively against us all the time. With his first touch, difficulty to hold the ball and general lack of technique it's much harder for him to score in those situations than against teams playing Everton equally or without an extra defensive effort. He'll receive balls in the run, he'll receive balls in the box or around it with less players around him. He'll flourish in those situations. As it stands today and seeing how he progressed in three seasons - despite the early age - I don't think he has what it takes to make it big here. He could and certainly would outscore Eto'o last season (nine goals), but all this headache for a player that could score, I don't know, 12 goals? That's what I expect from Oscar or Schurrle this year... They should score at least 12 goals if they're in form. For a striker is still not much. It's just we've been so bad in that department lately that suddenly a guy with 15 goals in the league is a wonder here. 5) Finally if he indeed leaves is because of at least one of those two things (could also be a combination of both) A- Lukaku's decision: he wanted and Mourinho thought that it wasn't a great loss. B- Club decision: Mourinho doesn't rate him (or think he's worth keeping given the bad package I've mentioned above he definitely comes with) whether that's technically or only about his attitude. In either case I guess I'll trust Mourinho's assessment, first because I happen to think the same whether A or B happens, second, Mourinho knows much better than I do (which doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes). Letting Lukaku go isn't a problem in itself, staying with only Torres and Droga is. One injury and we're left with a strike force as bad (if not worse) than last year's - and we don't know if Costa is prone to them or not, a player could start being prone to them like Aguero was last season and some occasions before - at any point of his career.Maybe he can't prevent Lukaku from leaving or even think he's worth the effort, but then Mourinho MUST bring another striker, especially because he spent the whole of last season complaining he didn't have strikers. If he consciously take a risk of going with only one good striker he doesn't a right to say a word if Costa is injured and we're left with only Torres and DD. I'd say someone young, inexpensive, that could learn from DD and offer us around the same goals output that Lukaku could or even a bit less. I've been saying for a while now we could use a technical striker - we don't have any in the team - because Lukaku's style is similar to Costa - except the latter is right now much better than the former. If Costa struggle against a certain kind of situation, we still have a problem because the likely of it being the same situation Lukaku struggles is huge. Neither can save us if our midfield is having an uninspired day (at least we'll have DD now for air threat in set-pieces, which is always a way to try to overcome lack of creativity). Get a talented, technical young striker around 22-23 that isn't that big yet (or maybe even doesn't have a very high ceiling), but that could offer us something different. He'll grow and mature here and we'll be more versatile. Either way, just get someone. We don't need to have a problem with letting Lukaku go - it's not a problem per say in my book - but we can make it a problem if we're only left with those other two replacements for Costa.

First of all, I don't even agree we are what it's been said we are, how am I going to assess if I think the premise is fake? There were matches where we were a joy to watch. The team couldn't keep it up enough and the second part of the season was a disaster with players already thinking about the WC or what they ate the day before, because they seemed completely uninterested in some matches (and I'm not talking only about Brazilians). But when the machine was working, it was a very nice style to watch. We played good football at many point throughout the season, we just weren't good enough to keep doing it. It wasn't as silky and flair-ish as others and while that influences to a certain extent people labeling us anti-football or boring, the main source of those ideas is because we don't score much. But it has nothing to do with Mourinho's tactics and preferences when you look who were our striker force in the first place. That's what people will say. With Diego Costa here if we play exactly the same football, but somehow score let's say 90-whatever goals, the argument is going to disappear. Opposition and neutral fans won't talk as much about our 'anti-football'. We only really practiced for a while, especially during the UCL under di Matteo. Everything else is jealousy, distortion of facts and too much time in hands. And this whole idea is even more ridiculous when you realize not every season has a team scoring 100+ - regardless of the league. If that was the case our record of most goals at the league would have been broken or at least tied every season and it's intact until now. In other leagues - just like in the EPL - teams go over 100 once in a while. Yeah, 70-whatever is poor for a top team. It has little to do with Mourinho's tactics and a lot more with 1) bad strikers 2) our best player not shooting enough 3) our other AMs - especially Oscar who started scoring for fun and has very good finishing - went hiding the second half of the season. So the problem was actually more in the players shying away than in the approach. Against teams whose attack was better than us we played more defensively. I think mistakes were made against Atletico, but it wasn't simply because we were defensive. They were tactical bets that didn't pay off. Most of them did throughout the season. This whole discussion imo is moot and bleh because I don't agree with the basic premise. Now if we move it to 'can we play more effective football' I'll have a lot to say (as if three paragraphs weren't a lot already). While many said we don't play beautiful, but play effective, I disagree. We weren't properly drilled at offensive actions, we could and should have done better. Our attack should be more organized, our midfield more creative and direct. We had a lot of problems - most of them technical as in many matches the players didn't show up and in many others it was a chance-created-waste-festival. Mourinho failed in create alternatives (plays practiced in training, actually have drills on how to attack) because it seems like everyone was doing whatever they saw fit at some points, it wasn't organized, purposeful and conscious many times. During pre-season, Mourinho and Kevin spoke about us scoring goals in plays we trained, but it seemed to have been lost during the season. André ran, positioned himself, nobody saw him or passed to him. Eto'o also presented himself for the 2-1, but the AM or whoever received the ball and moved forward, our FB didn't support our attack properly (Azpili and Iva were in the final third, but bad positioned, without a clear purpose of attacking, many times seemed to only add numbers and be there for sideway passes), we were taking nonsense shots (especially with Luiz and Ramires) that showed we didn't know what else to do with the ball. Players should be aware of where André was and pass him the ball. Players should know when Eto'o got his back to the goal at the edge of the box and passed it backwards, that he was going to receive a couple of seconds later, inside the box, face to the goal. Azpili and Iva should be more than players to pass the ball to the side and get it back, trying to find a way to get passed the block (or bus). It's not only about crosses, but smart linkup and 2-1s. I have no problem with risking long distance shots, but sometimes they showed we didn't know what we were doing. All those things should be worked in training imo but they don't show you're defensive, they just show you should do a better job because if all those players were in the positions they found themselves in the first place (all examples I gave they are in the final third and I'm talking about strikers, AMS, pivot players and FB, a team with all those people up there isn't defensive). I wasn't in the training sessions, obviously, so I'm assuming they weren't properly worked because I didn't see purpose in many of our actions in the final third. Maybe they were worked and we couldn't execute, either way, the problem has always been execution (in training and in play) more than philosophy. And I now I spoke enough

There are 20 actually, not only 18. Cech, Thibaut, Mark - 3 GK Iva, Azpili, Luis - 3 DF Matic, Ramires, Mikel, van Ginkel, Romeu - 5 MD Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Schurrle, Salah, Marin - 6 AM Costa, Torres, Drogba - 3 ST I thought Romeu was younger, but he's about to turn 23, so he counts among the senior foreigns. We need to get rid of three among those players or register them in only one competition between UCL and EPL (like we did with Essien last season). The HG would be JT, Cahill, Cesc and Lukaku among the seniors (although Lukaku still counts as U-21) and the kids would be Zouma, Aké, Christensen and probably Baker. Moses and Bertrand are as good as gone, just like Torres and Mikel imo. They're deadwood that only add to our wage bill, but while I can see us easily getting rid of the former two, I have no idea who'd be interested in the latter... Mikel is a very decent player, but he's completely unmarketable... and nobody wants Torres...

I know Hazard needs help and he should have more space now with Cesc in the team as markers won't pile up on Eden allowing Cesc to pick a pass to any of the other AMs and the ST that would have to be unmarked for three players to be with Hazard. That's cute and dandy, but that won't solve Eden's main problem imo. Yes, he was hot and cold too (not as much as Oscar though), hasn't score one goal from open play since early February and the main reason isn't the players around him. They could and should help him more, but if he doesn't grow some more incisive attitude he'll never reach his ceiling. He'll progress some but still much less than he could because he desperately needs a change of attitude in the pitch. If he were a guy bolder, with that feeling that 'I'll do whatever it takes to be a champ' he'd be steps ahead in his development curve. His laid back attitude limits his progression and game a lot imo, more than the lack of players linking up properly with him. A guy with his skills to dribble and his pace shouldn't rely much on others when he reaches his peak. Look at Cris and Messi, many times they start and finish the play all by themselves because they're so hell bent on making it happen. Hazard seems too apathetic for my taste and please, let's not go down the road I'm calling him lazy because I'm definitely not. He's just passive, conformed with things when they're bad. He seems to lack some real ambition. I mean he seems to dream high, but I see it more like that, dream rather than ambition. He will do everything Mourinho asks him to do because he seems quite submissive from afar, but it's not only about positioning, shooting (something he definitely should do more), it's about the way he approaches the matches and I think that's a bigger detractor to his development than the lack of better partners in crime - although Oscar, Willian, Cesc, Schurrle and co MUST get more involved in 2-1s with him. But he can't use only those things players do around him to flourish when his potential is much bigger than that. Here is hoping Drogba brushes some of his personality off on Eden.

thanks, this one is the different and has the side tackle I've mentioned. The one Skip posted was posted a couple of pages ago and didn't have it. He's great!

He's 21, he's still learning. Of course he's flustered sometimes, but it's nothing that worries me in the future about him being reckless. The only thing I worry about him being way too intense in some balls is that he may get hurt again. He has a great attitude imo and I see him staying here a decade and being the guy we'll be talking with great regard five years from now. I agree with @dee25's assessment that he comes right out of the same school as Lamps and Gerrard and it's no wonder how significant those two are to the fans of the clubs they've spent their whole lives at. He could be a legend here for all we know. It's too early to say that for sure, but he has the potential right there.

ooh, didn't know that, thanks!!!! and as for the tweet - I forgot to answer when I arrived home. I only uploaded there to link here. Also I change their team thousand times a day. The temptation of unlimited transfers have to be savored while it's possible lol

yeah, because I've been wondering what people were questioning about his decision to keep them in the first team. Did people honestly expect them to have match time promptly? If you're training under José Mourinho at age 17, 18, 19 or even 20, that's a feat in itself and it'll certainly help your development into a senior player. Anyone was aware they wouldn't have much play time, but that's all that is really important at this stage for these boys? It isn't and in the case of the ones kept in the u-21 they'll still have play time. But what Aké, Christensen and maybe Baker (relieved that he finally revealed his plans for the kid) have to go through is the same in any big team in the world. If there's an injury or an emergency plan is needed, you're there and you'll have minutes. When for whatever reason a player has to be spared, you'll have minutes. In the very first season those minutes could be very limited, but that's the natural process anywhere, the difference is when a team doesn't have such quality as Chelsea in the seniors, the youth is used more often, but they will be used at some point. I think people are a bit obsessed with our youth players being incorporated in the first team - within reason, as Mourinho said, it became a graveyard, but everyone - players and fans - should also be patient and aware this is a step-by-step process.

I miss you!!!!

Yes, that's something that I don't have doubts... but then again I could be completely wrong, hahaha

it's all about winning. In my head they all wear the kit I designed I was sentimental over my choices when I started playing last year, I got over it really quickly. Liverpool is always regarded a lot of penalties, having Gerrard is a must And they still have the best striker in the country. My first version had Costa, but it's risky to bet in a guy that still has to adapt...

he's been saying that for one year... it's not something new he just added to his speech. I think he was honest last year and continues to be. We were in transition, he was getting to know the squad and see what they're made of (mentally speaking). Targeting titles would have been premature or wishful thinking, but even then he was speaking about how this current season we would step up. Now he knows those players and he's added the key ones he believes he needed. Chelsea is a top team in England, what else is he supposed to say and do now? He could still fail - after all we aren't the only top team in the country - but his speech last season concerning that season and this one has been coherent and reasonable imo. I see nothing that surprises me.

So let me see if I get it straight. Liverpool is near winning anything in many years and they lose their best player. It happens to anyone, go ask Spurs. But then they have tons of money to spend and strengthen their team. Instead of going for top players in the positions they need the most, they settle for dismantling a team that while decent ended 8th, 30 points behind the champion. What's the logic of that? I agree Lovren is decent and actually will help them (replaced him on my fantasy team yesterday for Terry (made the funds to pay the difference), but none of their signings is what I call clinical. Suarez was irreplaceable, but he also covered a lot of their issues last season. They weren't a balanced team and they continue not to be. They had a lot of money to fix where they needed and I feel like they're wasting money around making a better version of Southampton from last season. A better version of Southampton (combined with the players the scousers already had) doesn't mean an improved Liverpool necessarily. Without Suarez's goals AND ASSISTS (let's not forget he had 31 goals, but also 12 assists) they won't be able to keep outscoring what their defense concedes. Their midfielders are all attacked-minded (the good ones) and they keep pilling them up (as well as strikers it seems). I don't know, I wouldn't say they're pulling a Spurs (after all they didn't sign Paulinho), but I don't feel like they're coming stronger this season or even keeping the level. It seems they're off to fighting for a UCL spot again... maybe I'm wrong, but they seem to sign only decent players. No real talent that will make a huge difference in the squad.

the fact that every time he isn't playing or training he has a baseball cap on tells you how much he hated the haircut. I wonder why he got it in the first place. I don't think it was exactly his idea.

pretty much, especially because Fàbregas will probably see him making the runs, something no one in our team seemed to do last season.

I'm holding onto hope based on two things. 1) Cesc is indeed playing in the pivot (I hope today wasn't only a test, but the real idea Mourinho wants to play with). 2) When mentioning key players for the team that are still missing, Mourinho didn't mention Ramires (official site): Of course, he could have mentioned only the AMs because they're more important than a pivot player. But I'm very hopeful that isn't the case and with Cesc's arrival and even van Ginkel rise, Ramires is regarded with a secondary role in the squad. btw, that's my fave lineup too. I don't think they'll start against Burnley as the Brazilians and Schurrle will arrive a week prior to our debut, but for the season, that's our best imo

From the Official Site. well, I don't think based solely in the games that Izzy Brown should be promoted to the first team - especially in a position we're stocked, but as usual, I'll trust Mourinho's assessment. I miss Baker in either list (training with the first team or being loaned). He was better than everyone else except Boga imo and he isn't mentioned at all. I feel for the kid. Good luck for the boys being promoted.

First of all, Cesc is a brave dude. I wouldn't jump on Costa and hope to survive the fall (or the punch). Second, I think his facial expression matches his feels about people jumping to hug him. He's probably a lot like you when it comes to hugging. Except you look like a cute Koala not a drug cartel chief.

Chelsea B x Chelsea FC Chance to see some of our players... oh wait, we haven't loaned all of them yet.

Yeah, I made jokes about him smiling (don't open the spoiler tag if you don't want to be disappointed), but he was sublime with his finishing and I think he made a few good runs as well. He did really well and I think he'll fit just fine, but we should give him time to settle. Just because he's a G (thanks @Polo7, the other meaning I ofc knew but as Iseah said, it wouldn't make much sense, unless... well, let's not stray) nearly an H it doesn't mean he doesn't need time to fit in properly. He has a good finishing, I think that was never in question even for people that aren't overly excited about him such as me. I hope the runs continue, and we find him in good positions. He isn't the most technical guy (my main 'complain' about him, but it's not a complain per say), but he can score goals. He's always at the right place, at the right time and with his drug cartel leader face, he'll just make space for himself and fight against the defense (literally, lol). Hopefully we won't have a striker issue this season.

I have no idea what you guys are talking about

This guy is a tank... except he can leap like a flea. How is that physically possible lol? Anyway, I think he showed much more composure today. Maybe last match was just a stinker, everyone has those, especially when you're new in a team and even more so during pre-season. I think we're done with the CB now. With him and Iva we have enough coverage for Cahill's and Terry's eventual absences. Actually I think his partnership with Terry today in the second was second to nothing to the Cahill/Terry partnership in general. It's good to have this feeling, that if an injury comes or a suspension for cumulative yellows, we not only have Iva (who I don't like much as a CB, unpopular opinion, but for me is a FB). Actually with Aké, Iva and Zouma we've got the defense depth covered imo. We don't need any better than this. Also with some of those guys age (Aké, Zouma and even Azplici), if development continues as expected and injuries don't cause a serious problem, we're done with defenders for a few years, even when Terry retires and Cahill and Luís start the descending years of their careers. Terry could play one or two more years, the other two, who knows, maybe three or even four. We're settled for a few years and that's without counting Kalas who I also see some good potential on.

Another solid display by him. He was very good tackling - as usual, only looked a bit flustered once as far as I remember, and took some nice set-pieces. I really hope he continues to shine in the pre-season. We need him to erase Ramires from Mourinho's mind. He doesn't have the same pace and stamina, but he's fast nonetheless and he's resilient enough, he can endure the matches. A pivot with him and Matic is great, and he can also play in the 4-3-3 midfield alongside Cesc and Matic - with Cesc as the most advanced midfielder. I want to see this boy getting some matches. We need to continue his development, he has a lot of potential and I can't for the life of me see why we'd need to sign another MD (CM, DM, B2B, DLP) at all. We're balanced as it is. Oriol was also very solid today so we have them, and Ramires and Mikel (we could easily offload Mikel tbh, sorry Chou Chou). So if Oscar goes off again this season we have better options than simply throwing Ramires in the wing and moving Willian to the middle. Cesc can play Oscar's position and Marco can play Cesc's. Actually I think both Oscar and especially Willian will have to step up big time to keep their places in the team or even be relevant, as Schurrle ended the season (with us and the WC) in a high and Hazard is Hazard. He's young and he has the kind of personality José simply loves (which is one of the reason why I believe DD is back). He's fearless, he's always highly motivated and I think he might even have that thirsty to win within him. Luís said we'd never see him walking in the pitch, but always running and I believe it to also be true about this lad. I'm very happy with him and I'm looking forward to him staying here a long, long time.

Post match interviews Zouma Cahill