Barbara

congrats @Stingray - although I can't take you seriously with a crown decorating your posts Not that I ever take you that seriously, but yeah...

I thought they would stream this, hahahahaha Can't they understand we've been waiting this for years! It should be filmed and streamed live by ChelseaTV!!!

After a couple of weeks, I think I've got a better idea of what you guys call wingers and what you guys call CAM's who drop a bit to the sides. Also I've watched closer some of Oscar and Eden's vids with their passes, highlights, assists and goals and I admit I was wrong. My memory sucks and seeing how he was just average in CC (as a traditional #10) - I think due to fatigue more than anything else - I've got the wrong idea. So I must admit I made a few mistakes in my previous analysis. Oscar and Hazard don't really add width. Hazard adds pace and Oscar depth. I was mostly confused by a very tired Oscar and my sucking memory (I think he really played an okay CC at most). Then clearing up my confusion about what a ~rested Oscar can produce vs exhausted Oscar, I think Oscar works better as a CAM. I still believe though we should be playing (with the current squad) 4-3-3 instead of 4-2-3-1 because I still think we don't have a DLP (one who is ready anyway) and an outstanding striker - both essential for the formation to work the best. This is the new idea I've got based on every input I've read recently mainly about Oscar and Schurrle. I'm not adding Ginkel because I don't think he has a place in the starting XI and I'm not adding Torres because I refuse to use him or other guys because as each day passes I believe less and less we'll sign a big forwarder which is quite the depressing prospect. It seems like Schurrle is better on the left wing, but Hazard is our main player in my opinion and he should play in his best position, and the others should accommodate to that. I'm not considering Oscar a pivot or a DLP in this formation, just the most advanced player in midfield with tons of freedom to roam around. His tackling, work rate, stamina, interception and defensive skills could make a difference recovering the ball in our opponents field, somewhere between the 2nd 1/3 and the 3rd 1/3. That's where a player like him can make the difference because he can steal the ball and quickly either advance and strike or pass. If we move him to the pivot or just deeper, I think he'll be average. He'll be too far from the box and he isn't defensively good (or strong) enough to play the pivot. In the future (like much later this season or next season) I can see him taking Mata's position and then I don't know what to do with Mata as he clearly can't play the position I have Oscar in this formation (cause he doesn't tackle much, doesn't have much stamina, is slower, etc...). Shirley - from what I read - plays the same style as Cristiano Ronaldo which is yet another position I've read, but can't remember the name. He'd be the most advanced striker in this, but he won't be centered. He'd play in the flank and then cutting inside and advancing towards the goal. I don't expect him to assist much - just like Cris doesn't - but to move vertically (and fast) - and just shoot to the goal. After a very unstable year(s) in our defense zone I think we need both Mikel and Ramires and I can't find a place for Lampard in the starting XI. Mikel is stronger and will definitely do the harder work defending, while Ramires would be the second one to combat the opponents, and then Oscar. Hazard as I said is the team's star, he plays his best in the LW imo although he's quite good in the center as well. But Mata is better in the center than in the wing - although I've read many of you mentioning he played as a winger in Valencia (I couldn't say because I can't honestly remember three seasons ago from a team I don't even support). I think his stats are impressive and I suppose (not sure) most of his goals and assists came from when he was playing centered? And I favor a healthy and fit Terry over Ivanovic and Cahill. That's it

Welcome mate, you're going to love it here

@CHOULO19, we definitely disagree about him. I can't for the life of me think he's giving to Mourinho a well improved team compared to the one he started the work. He made some improvement (as I said worsen what RDM left as a legacy was quite the task), in some areas, but if I had to point out the top10 worst matches last season, I'm positive about 8 would be under his management.The match against Steua is the worst match I've ever seen Chelsea Football Club play since I've become a fan. It's not about the result, it's about how the team performed and behaved on the pitch. That kind of display is unacceptable. In the cups against Manchester City was also appalling and so was against Swansea. I don't think Chelsea ended the season that much better than started. It ended it more organized - as expected from any team that works together for ten months... but an improved team? Not sure. I can't thank a guy for finishing third in a competition... especially given the opposition... and the EL title was definitely worst to watch than the CL title if we think of some eye-hurting matches we played. With RDM we parked the bus and prayed for the best while counting on Cech and Mata/Drogba. In EL it was such a mess at times, against teams that were even messier or even weaker. I can't only look to the result. I have to look how it was achieved and both things were achieved in an appalling fashion. But hey, at least Torres scored a few goals and Hazard improved by the end of the season. I refuse to comment on the fact that you think Mourinho would have done a worse job. I simply refuse. but I still love you *hug*

@Jim, @, loves, it seems like people can't mention me because of á, sorry to be such a pain, but could I be Barbara then? Thanks, Super Jim (for the previous change) and thanks in advance to whoever does the new one.

@Peace., thanks for the explanation, mate. It makes a lot of sense.

I've been reading this thread for the past couple of days, from page one (plan to do the same with Eden's) and that's one of the most accurate comments I've read here. Benitez didn't value Oscar and his amazing skills enough, played him badly, frustrated him (I read some comment about him moaning about Benitez, had no idea it happened, but it doesn't surprise me) and consequently deterred the progress he'd started to do under RDM. As if I didn't have enough reasons to deeply dislike Benitez. Watch the boy become one of our very best, if not the best, under Mourinho's management. And I've read so many posts begging him to be played a DLP or in the pivot. I do hope Mou has a different plan (I suspect he does). The guy is perfect as a AM who tackles and intercepts more balls than the other 3 most advanced players we have. That's what makes him remarkable as a #10, not what would potentially make him a great #8 or #6. Why turn him into something he's not fit to just because as an attacking midfielder he excels in tackling and intercepting? That kind of reasoning will never make sense in my head! You take the guy from the position he shines not only for the great talent and intelligence he has, but also because he added defensive skills to his portfolio and that makes him a more complete AM than Mata and Hazard, and because of that move him to the pivot? So I hope we play him mostly as a CAM and Eden as LW and Mata wherever and if Schurrle is as good as people make him to be, then I can see Oscar rotating with Mata and Shirley himself, until he - Oscar - is the one they're rotating with, which I have no doubt will happen. He isn't our best player imo (neither is Mata for that matter) and he isn't my favorite player, but he has potential to be both things. now I'll continue to read as I'm still on page 91

Mourinho has the cutest dimples ever! I'm so excited tomorrow he'll start working with the team! SO EXCITED!!!!! I've been waiting for a season now, as I wanted him to leave RM for us since the end of 2011/12. Excitement doesn't start to cover how I feel now! thanks for the vid

what if Dortmund has a bad first semester and in order to earn some money and get some new signings they decide to sell Lewa in the january window? why would they prefer to wait his contract to expire and get nothing from one of the most rated forwarders in Europe now is beyond my comprehension.

Well, I hate Benitez for so many reasons, but yet @CHOULO19, you're right when you assess him better than RDM tactically. My point though is if you have two sub par guys it doesn't make much difference if one is less bad than the other and I guess that's the case with RDM and RB tactically. Benitez has merit for improving some players' results, but he also stopped Oscar's progress - one of the most promising players in the group - and that alone would be reason enough to call him stupid. At the end of the day 2012/2013 was a terrible season for Chelsea and it passes through the management, but I have to admit not even for Mourinho it would have been easy to manage that team. The changes were too deep, more than we may realize at first. The players were used to a certain style and that wasn't an attacking nature, a creative and smart midfield and awful finishers. We had the opposite up until 2011/12 when our midfield was shy of creativity and fluency, but we had a beast leading our attack. It's a deep change of style and one everyone has to adapt to: R/L backs, midfielders and of course forwarders. If we had kept Drogba I think we would have had a much better season because while Mazacar didn't live up their potential they did serve Torres and Ba on multiple occasions only to have the FWs to awfully waste some of them. So there was a big challenge in RDM's and RB's hands to change the old players' mentality, to integrate the new players and to find what would be Chelsea's style because only Oscar among the 4 attacking players is good defensively and has a good work rate (I exempt the comparisons to Eden and Mata, thank you very much, as this is not the point here). So the managers had to find balance between tackling and creating in the midfield, to create a new work philosophy, to get a formation that would take the best out of our players, to figure out how Mazacar (who goes to which wing an who's centered) was more efficient and to try to make up for the lack of quality from our forwarders. It's no easy task, but I don't have enough fingers and toes in my body to point managers that could have done better than Benitez (not sure if any of them were available for a move though). I agree with you Roberto shouldn't have been appointed at all and that's the reason why we had to settle for Benitez. To worsen what RDM did (this season) one would have to do a really bad work, because as much as I love RDM - and I do - he was tactically very poor and it seems like he and team got lost and couldn't find pattern or style. Still he'll always have my respect, not because of the CL title alone, but because he did his best, he put his heart and soul in that team and I respect that a lot. But a manager shouldn't only have my respect... Then Benitez came and I hate the guy, but it isn't unjustified blind hate. He's some disrespectful, low-class, stupid, limited, bad-loser manager. He badmouths everyone and their mothers gratuitously (it's a way to try to demoralize the competition which is a dirty tactic - on those he's a master), he doesn't show the respect a gentleman should show, he thinks of himself much higher than he should, probably because of his UCL title with Liverpool, tactically he's a moron, whenever his initial stupid plan doesn't work he doesn't have a clue on how to fix it most times, he doesn't know how to answer to tactical issues and knots the opposition may present during the match. So what's there to praise? That he improved the team? That he won Europa League? Take a look at the opponents we played in EL and I'll tell you what, some of the matches we did were painful to watch against ridiculously weaker sides. How can I thank him for not losing to teams that were so worse than us and still caused us trouble? His work in the domestic cups was RIDICULOUS and while it was a challenge to make this team work in the first season - especially when he came only in the middle of the season - he did so much less progress than I think others managers could have done. So I repeat myself for the 232384934758475i4656th time: I thank Rafa Benitez for nothing. And as I said the progress was much less than I believe would have been delivered by other managers, it wasn't 1% more than what I've expected from a guy like Benitez. He is a week manager, whose tactics are poor, who doesn't know how to sub and fix a problem when the matches presents it and who handed a team that Mourinho will still have a lot of work to do to define while a good manager would have done at least half-way the job. I mean, except for the everyone-uses-it-because-it's-fashionable-now 4-2-3-1 formation, what else can we state about Chelsea? What is our main characteristic? What gives trouble to our opposition? What's this team trademark? What's our style? And mostly... Mourinho is joining the team tomorrow, if he asks each of those players what were their positions, obligations, tactical responsibilities and role in the formation, will all of them have clear answers? Cech and Torres might, as well as the FB, but who else can state without a doubt: I'm this guy, I do this and this and this because of this, this and this and that's the part of the pitch I cover and that's what you should expect from me. They may answer this based on their personal preferences, not based on what the previous manager made them out to be. And that's the main reason why a manager exists! Was I too harsh? I don't even know if I'm biased or not when it comes to Benitez because really, he's that bad, but still better than di Matteo tactically.

I would love if he came, as you guys may know by now, I'm the biggest Xabi fan.

The only one I like in the list is going to Arsenal (as Lewa is pretty much a Bayern player at this point)... I wouldn't sign any of the other suggestions

and then they don't know why I love you more than everyone else

you're my fave person by far here... haven't met someone like you on internet... really the most amazing guy ever... so if they change the criteria to the most amazing person ever, my vote is yours without thinking edit: I also like your posts a lot, don't want to give the wrong idea

dear Luiz, don't ever go there again. Fondly, Your fans

ITA Especially when you compare his interview and words to Ginkel's. Nothing wrong with Marco, but Shirley shows that he really thinks Chelsea is a special place to be, he wanted to be there and if he's really good, I'm thanking Mr. Ballack for the nice words both confirmed he put. I think he had said the most amazing things about Chelsea to André, creating some sort of dream in his head about Stamford Bridge. Players aren't supposed to come here as if this is their childhood dream team, I don't demand that from them at all. I demand they to give their best and be professional about it. But it feels bloody amazing when a lad like this one shows that he's like making one of his dreams come true - even if they don't date from too long ago. Really looking forward to Schurrle and hoping he will do great here.

I'm voting with you

am I the only one to think he was being the polite/diplomatic new signing when he answered why he chose Chelsea and then became an excited fanboy when talking about Mou?

I thank Benitez for nothing, really... he IS a bastard, lacks any class and is dumb.

You guys have to understand that was the first time I was seeing Eden ever! I was so excited, I might even ask my Twitter archive just to remember how I tweeted like a crazy girl, completely in love with this perfect Belgian! So yeah, he probably evolved by the end of the season like you guys say, but for me, those first matches in EPL was love at first sight, the kind of thing you don't forget easily and don't get over with the next thing. So maybe that makes my impression of that month overrated. As for Benitez I've mentioned his name in the last few days more than I'm willing in a lifetime, so I'll pass.

And Jay Jay despite his complaints about me sending cats to his twitter and PM when I see it on my tumblr.

I used the image in an article, but I suppose not everyone reads those, so I'm posting the charts in the players' thread for those who might be interested. The green and blue correspond the players's movement without the ball, the yellow corresponds to tackles, interceptions and prompt passes and the red ball possession

I used the image in an article, but I suppose not everyone reads those, so I'm posting the charts in the players' thread for those who might be interested. The green and blue correspond the players's movement without the ball, the yellow corresponds to tackles, interceptions and prompt passes and the red ball possession