Barbara

what can I say? I love your country's food! But the grape roll was too heavy and I couldn't eat the three. So I just ate one but the cabbage roll OMG!!!!! I'm calling my mother later today and blackmailing her! I'll only go there on Tuesday if she does it for me. Tons of it!!!! I don't think I'd have a chance to find the Markook bread you're talking about, but I guess my mother is traveling to Israel again later this year and she might go to some arabic countries... so maybe she can bring some for me as for the raw meat, it looks like something else, like the sauce that I put on the food I'm stuffed right now. I ate the tabbouleh, the kibbeh, the cabbage rolls, the vegetable roll, the kafka, one of the grape rolls, one of the breads and 500ml of orange juice. I can barely breathe

add two giant syrian breads I eat for two, bb

Air conditioning, perpetually set on 15.5 degrees (for me), now in the apartment I'm temporarily leaving there's no AC - good thing I've moved here in the end of fall and will leave before the end of winter. But even then it's a ceiling fan on all the time. edit: those cabbage rolls are the best thing on earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

then tomorrow I eat again! For now that's it: Tabbouleh, kafka, the meat rolls (both with cabbage and grape leaves), the thing on the right between the Tabbouleh and the cabbage roll that I can't say in English. It's the same filling the cabbage roll has, but instead it's in a green gourd or whatever and a Kibbeh! DELICIOUS! Specially the tabbouleh in syrian bread - that I got two!

it's pre-season friendlies, guys like Kalas, Ginkel and Chalobah would have their fair chances to play in the matches, I do think we should try our best formation as starting XI and give chances to the boys as the matches progresses. Mourinho has to use these matches to start making up the team in his head. Although he doesn't have 5 important (and supposedly starting XI) players, I think he will try the best team at first, and includes Ramires and Lampard imo, but I'm sure Ginkel will have plenty of chances. Mourinho sort of hinted in his interview that Ginkel is for long term... same applies to Chalobah and Kalas imo I do agree on the attacking three disposition.

damn it. My fave Arabic place (that delivers) is closed today (on a SUNDAY!!!!) and I'll have to settle for the Arabic fast food chain

taking into account we don't have Luiz, Oscar, Azpili and Mata, I guess that's the best team we'd have although I'd switch Eden and Kevin's position as I think Kevin is amazing in the wing and Hazard would have a chance to play in the center - where he's also very good. Also, I'm hoping André can play in the right wing as the season progresses. That said, I hope Mourinho moves to a 4-3-3 formation if we don't sign a world class striker. No more relying on Torres.

welcome mate Hope you enjoy the forum, it's really great

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11668/8823735/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter does it sound like Didier would answer like that? It's SSN though, so who knows?

Already better than Torres https://vine.co/v/hZHjgYb3MYM

no, love, the raw kibbeh in the top right. I normally put it in the oven to roast because I'm not a fan of raw meat... I LOVE kibbeh (when it's baked), love, love, love, love, love. I can't eat enough of it. As this picture is sort of old, I'm going to leave now and have Arabic food because I'm craving it now!

http://www.chelseafc.com/pre-season-article/article/3236811/title/piazon-progress-and-opportunity

this is heaven! (as you guys are talking about Tabbouleh) except the raw kibbe (meat), I've eaten everything else!!!! @CHOULO19 especially the cabbage rolls!!!!!

I woke up feeling so much better today! My throat is better, the pain behind my nose and eyes are better too and I don't have a fever anymore! Now I only have to keep taking the medicine for another couple of days to be completely 100% and leave for vacation! Let's hope the highest temperature I take in 10 degrees. Maybe some snow?

@JDY your guy went to Madrid... is he really good? I was touched by his speech leaving Sociedad...

I feel sorry for you, man. I loved every bite. so happy to see you in better spirits! *hug*

Ibra Rooney Ibra Busquets Dani Alves Ibra Can't remember others, but certainly Ibra

thanks for remembering that's what the first thing I should be doing! It's been a while since I've been sick and I only took the medicine, but there's nothing better than putting whatever that is called in English in my nose! even when you're being bad, you do me good, Tom

rhinitis everywhere from my neck up hurts

I'm sick three days before going on vacation I'm sick silver lining where are you? I always try to find you!

I guess it's about the pretty

Finished my internship today!!!!! A step away from my second bachelor's degree and teacher's license. All I have to do now is send the documents in and hope I did nothing wrong or didn't miss anything. I've ended the major with an average A for some subjects and A+ to the rest (although I did get a B+ in the first semester). I don't know how grading translates so the real grades were: most 10 out of 10, a few 9.5 out of 10 and one 8.5 out of ten and a 9.5 in the monograph. Those three years were way too long Happy beyond words. And I did a project with glue and glitter with my kiddos earlier and I look like a Christmas three. I did finish that internship with a bang. More ways than one.

Welcome Theodor! I hope you have a great time here and your English seems great and it will only improve from now Stay active!

aren't there any vids from the press conference? I mean the whole thing? I've checked a couple of threads and found it in none

It's almost half way July and while the transfer window has officially been opened in most countries for only 10 days, speculation and bids have been happening for over a month now and Chelsea still hasn't signed a new forward. There's still plenty of time to find the player that will step into one of the team's most lacking positions, but what if Chelsea can't find the right guy again? The team's main targets have either signed with other clubs or seem further and further from Stamford Bridge as days pass. Falcão, Lewandowski, Cavani and even Rooney aren't within reach as of now and they may never be in short-term. While supporters try to find alternatives to those who are considered the best available forwarders, many of those possibilities could end up being yet another gamble. And as such it means they could completely backfire. Which is how Chelsea found themselves in this position to start with. When the club signed Fernando Torres for the astonishing amount of £50M back in 2011, it seemed like the Spaniard and Drogba would set up a deadly strike team. But reality couldn't diverge more from the prospect and after Drogba left the Blues at the end of the 2011/2012 season, the striking problem only escalated. So what if Chelsea makes a bet that doesn't come to fruition? Or what if José Mourinho decides to stick with the options he has today? Is it possible for Chelsea to make their attack work with the players they already have? Is there any hope for last season's failure to be left in the past for good? An efficient and deadly solution may not be possible with their current players - even under Mourinho's management, but the portuguese could make the best out of it and somehow be competitive. Mourinho used for the most part a 4-2-3-1 formation while he stayed in Madrid, although more literally that could be interpreted as a 4-2-1-2-1 formation if we consider Ozil the CAM, Ronaldo and di María as wingers and Benzema/Higuaín as their CF. And it was those players along with Xabi Alonso that allowed the team to finally challenge Barcelona's dominance in Spain. Real Madrid went against the world's most recent trend - tiki taka's possession widely hyped by Barcelona's and the Spanish national team's successes - and opted for a counter-attack philosophy instead. Again Mourinho had just the perfect, fast players for that in the form of their #7 and #22, a great long passer in Alonso - that played as a deep-lying playmaker most of the time - and well-positioned and trustworthy forwards in Higuaín and Benzema. The team could rely on Ronaldo, di María and Xabi to start the counter-attack, increasing the pace quickly, and then counting on the effectiveness of the team's most advanced players that also included Ronaldo himself. Mourinho doesn't have similar players in Chelsea. The three attacking midfielders play better in the central #10 position rather than in the wings, and none of them are incredibly fast. The best deep-lying playmaker the team may be Oscar, but he hasn't proved himself in the position yet while Ramires lacks pass quality and Lampard's age and form may factor the following season even more than it did in the recent past. Moses could be an option to play as a fast winger, but like Oscar he has to prove himself in the position - although his problem resides in a different area compared to the Brazilian's. Oscar needs to get used to being a deep-lying playmaker and learn how to make the best out of his consistent and world-class skills to deliver it. Moses lacks the opposite by being completely adapted to play in the flank, but not necessarily consistent and skilled to really ace the position as a 4-2-3-1 would demand from at least one of its wingers. Mata and Hazard - as well as Oscar - had good days in the flanks, but more often than not, they couldn't match their performances in the center and this fact alone should prevent the team from playing in the - arguably - most used formation in European football. But while the 2 in the 2 and the wingers in the 3 are key-players for the formation's success maybe no one else is more important than the 1 and that's where Chelsea's nightmare started and carried on ever since Drogba left. Torres and later on Ba proved to be much less effective than the job required from them. If a formation - whatever that is - has a number 1 in its setup it's because that's the key position, that's a player that will make a difference and turn things around for the team. In the 4-3-2-1 that's the striker and more than any other position, Chelsea have been deficient in that area. We're not going to provide stats - the supporters' memories are enough to backup that conclusion - but if the team doesn't find out someone to really make out the best out of the 1, things might be frustrating and complicated for Chelsea. Which is why a 4-3-3 seems like a viable option given what the team has these days. Especially with the addition of André Schürrle - an answer to one of the 4-3-2-1 problems (in the wing), but probably not the solution. Barcelona - still one of the best teams in the world - use the formation with Messi as a false-9, two wingers and two playmakers. Chelsea doesn't have a true 9, but maybe a false one could be in the team's realm. Eden Hazard has been used in the position a couple of times last season by Benitez and while the results weren't the best - especially compared to when he played as a central attacking midfielder and even a left winger - the Belgian has all the requisites to excel in the position - maybe except the finishing (right now), that needs to be worked on. But that's where Mourinho comes in and normally makes a difference. The Portuguese is a great player developer and saved by rare occasions he brought the best out of his players, in some cases developing skills the players, supporters and analysts weren't even aware of, surprising them all. José has a clinical eye for the sport and he sees beyond most. Hazard looks to be a key player under Mourinho. With his explosive pace and dribbling he is likely to improve on his goalscoring and assistance tallies from last season. Eden's own goal is to score with more frequency this coming season. Whilst the goalscoring exploits of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo might be a little too steep for this special player, he certainly has the potential to replace Frank Lampard as Chelsea's 20-goals-from-midfield man for years to come. It will certainly be interesting keeping tabs on the Chelsea results at www.scores.co.uk to see whether Hazard can indeed reach his own lofty targets. So the suggestions below come from the assumption that Mourinho will be able to work with Hazard, Oscar, Mata and Schürrle to bring the best out of them in the positions suggested, although for the most part, those aren't the zones where most of them excelled in the past. While Barcelona and Bayern - both using 4-3-3 with practical variations that we won't delved into - have their midfield triangle with only one player deeper - Javi Martinez and Busquets (the latter despite his diving) maybe the best solution for Chelsea would be an inverse triangle, with two players deeper and one closer to the forwarders. That's because Barcelona and Bayern men are much more consistent and lethal on their tackling and defensive skills than our alternatives in the forms of Mikel, Ramires or Lampard. Given Lampard's not completely reliable shape and the higher risks of injuries, an initial formation would count with Ramires - as a right-sided defensive midfielder and Mikel as a left-sided defensive midfielder, with Mikel being more static and Ramires continuing to develop his box-to-box responsibilities for most time. If a name like de Rossi comes in, maybe it isn't far fetched for Chelsea to play with the same kind of diamond the Spanish and German national champions have in their formation. In this case Danielle could stay deeper with Ramires (or Lampard) and Oscar ahead of him. But as we're supposed to propose an improvement based on what we have as of now and Marco van Ginkel isn't ready to play the position - and may not ever be if Mourinho decides to play him a little bit more advanced - we'll keep the initial suggestion.