Should we put our faith in the youth?

[calculatingInfinity 1,443]

Chelsea should. But no manager is going to dare and use youngsters when they are always under the danger of being sacked with a few bad results.

[Joker10 946]

I will write something longer next time. But few things:

People information on this forum on Kakuta and PVA are still behind. Both players have played really well this season, and Kakuta attitude has significantly improved. Piet De Visser on numerous occasions has praised them for their development this season at Vitesse.

On Lukaku- I definitely agree we need to buy a superb and proven striker in the summer, but that doesn't mean that Lukaku should go on loan. If there is something to take away from United and City success over the years is the abundance of strikers they have at the club. People on numerous occasion here have said "City and United got lucky again with a late winner/equalizer." Its not luck that on numerous occasion one of Chicharito, Welback, Rooney, or RVP steps up. Lets not forget United is a flawed team in midfield and defense(less so now that Vidic is back), they would not be first if it was not for their strikers. Same thing with Shitty.

The decision to keep Lukaku is a easy one, because without a doubt he would make us a better team. I like the prospect of him coming in the 70-80 minute when we need a goal. His speed and strength is no doubt going to be an asset.

On the other side people are nuts to think Lukaku and Ba alone would be good enough for next season. We definitely need to buy a proven striker.

Feruz? lol he needs to go on loan, forget about him getting minutes at Chelsea, he would not even get a loan spell at any PL team let alone get playing time at Chelsea.

Ake? A loan spell he definitely needs, after that lets reevaluate.

I will write something later on my philosophy how to integrate youths another time.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I will write something longer next time. But few things:

People information on this forum on Kakuta and PVA are still behind. Both players have played really well this season, and Kakuta attitude has significantly improved. Piet De Visser on numerous occasions has praised them for their development this season at Vitesse.

On Lukaku- I definitely agree we need to buy a superb and proven striker in the summer, but that doesn't mean that Lukaku should go on loan. If there is something to take away from United and City success over the years is the abundance of strikers they have at the club. People on numerous occasion here have said "City and United got lucky again with a late winner/equalizer." Its not luck that on numerous occasion one of Chicharito, Welback, Rooney, or RVP steps up. Lets not forget United is a flawed team in midfield and defense(less so now that Vidic is back), they would not be first if it was not for their strikers. Same thing with Shitty.

The decision to keep Lukaku is a easy one, because without a doubt he would make us a better team. I like the prospect of him coming in the 70-80 minute when we need a goal. His speed and strength is no doubt going to be an asset.

On the other side people are nuts to think Lukaku and Ba alone would be good enough for next season. We definitely need to buy a proven striker.

Feruz? lol he needs to go on loan, forget about him getting minutes at Chelsea, he would not even get a loan spell at any PL team let alone get playing time at Chelsea.

Ake? A loan spell he definitely needs, after that lets reevaluate.

I will write something later on my philosophy how to integrate youths another time.

Are Ba and Lukaku not proven strikers? I've been one of the people who said I'd be happy going into the season with those two and one other utility striker who can also play on the wings. Does that make me nuts?

Lukaku has done everything we asked of him and more. He's got a fantastic attitude and has a fantastic scoring record in his first real season of Premier League football. I'd show a bit of loyalty to this guy and give him an honest shot to lead the line, along with Ba.

Oh, and for those people worried he might make mistakes - he will. That's why we're called 'supporters'. We're going to support him, we're going to cut him some slack and we're going to help him up when he falls.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I've said this before, but if we kept Sturridge we would've been better off - Ba, Lukaku and Sturridge next season would've been a great strikeforce IMO.

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

I am not 100% positive on my wish to loan him if we get UCL, but I dont see it doing that much damage to him. I mean, Cavani and Ba would be temporarily, since Ba is 'old' and injury prone and maybe we even start using 2 strikers, so buying Cavani is not as crazy as it sounds. Loaning him for just one more year might be a good option.

Also, Cavani/Lukaku in the future will be so deadly, wow!

I must admit i have only seen him playing 3-4 times, but what worries me is that his body is not ready to take on the Premier League. If he prefers a Marin role for the next year or so, I see no problem. if he wants to play, then we must loan Feruz.

I do agree it will be hard to find a good team for him...

I would include him if we are out of UCL. However, I absolutely think Moses and Hazard are not enough (not in quality) for a strong run in both the English League and Champions League. Gaitan or Rodriguez would do really well on our team, seriously. They provide good width, dribling and crossing ability and they know how to defend.

Yes!

Maybe in one year he surprises us all and do really well, but definetly not ready for an immediate spot. Agreed!

Ake has no place right now, imo. We would have 3 DMs and none of them would be world class. I just dont see Romeu thriving anymore (seems harsh, but idk) and Mikel + Ake wont do. Someone like Capoue is one of our highest priorities.

I actually think you might be right. At least so he can see how things are in Cobham and get that everyday life experience...

He is, but do we just tell Cech to pack his things and go? Wouldnt it be disrespectful?

I just feel sometimes we gotta do what is right and not what is rationally the best...

I just dont see them sadly being worth not even 90-100k, let alone 150k+. Very sad, but true!

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So, what you think of the squads? Balanced? Totally out of line? Way to unrealistic?

Also, how sure are you that Torres will leave?

Ba is only 27 or 28, thats someone in their prime, not an old player. The injury prone thing is also overstated, he hasn't had a lengthy injury in the PL yet. There was a stat flying about that he hadn't missed a game in like 6 years due to injury before he signed for us.

Also on Feruz.

Physically Feruz is actually probably one of the players more ready for senior football games be it Championship or PL. He is actually better physically than what you'd think for being 17 and 5 ft 7 or whatever he is. Hes nowhere near as big as Lukaku but hes not a frail boy like Josh. Hes been compared to a younger Wayne Rooney because hes a strong, powerful and dynamic player. Hes probably the best prospect we have after Nate, in fact I don't know whos the better prospect out of Chalobah or Feruz (may be a biased opinion because Feruz is an adopted Scot haha). But honestly, Feruz was playing with Scotland 17s by the time he was 13 or 14 I read, he played in a testomonial game for the late Tommy Burns in 2008 or 2009 when he was 15 or something. If he was still at Celtic he'd be a first team player, no doubt, Lennon was absolutely gutted to lose him. I know its only the SPL but if it were allowed he probably would have been a first team player at 15.

I'm going out on a limb and saying he will be a full time Scottish international by the time hes 19 or 20. Hes more the capable.

[mediator 2,026]

Chelsea should. But no manager is going to dare and use youngsters when they are always under the danger of being sacked with a few bad results.

Arsene Wenger is that man for it

[Peace. 4,352]

On the other side people are nuts to think Lukaku and Ba alone would be good enough for next season. We definitely need to buy a proven striker.

Word up.

We won't get anywhere with Lukaku and Ba as our striking force. That's not good enough for a team which want to compete in the Premier League and Champions League. And please, don't come and tell me that we should undergo a season of transition and lower our aims. We should put aside that fairy tail, it won't happen. Roman won't change his mind regarding that matter overnight.

Ba was brought in as a stop gap. That means what it means. He is good, but not good enough to carry a team of the "top four". Furthermore it seems that he cannot play more than once per week — that means he will be available for roughly 50% of the season. Asking Lukaku to handle the 50% remaining is just too much.

A great club has to have a great striking department to win. If take a look to the previous Champions League winners, all of them had a striker who was very important in their victory, and/or had a great striking force : Chelsea (Drogba) ; Barcelona (Messi) ; Inter (Milito) ; Barcelona (Eto'o) ; ManU (Rooney/Tevez/Ronaldo). That's the same with league winners : ManCity (Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli) ; ManU (Rooney, Own Goal (such a shame he couln't keep it up)) ; Chelsea (Drogba, Anelka) ; ManU (Ronaldo, Roney, Tevez) ; etc... Madrid (Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain) ; Barça (Messi... Eto'o), etc, etc, etc... I am not saying that we should win the CL or PL, but I am just stressing the importance of a great striking force. That's something we have lacked since the second season with Ancelotti (at the exception of the CL, where Didier was sublime).

That's why I think that we should buy a proven striker, someone of the caliber of Cavani.

[zolayes 14,489]

Word up.

We won't get anywhere with Lukaku and Ba as our striking force. That's not good enough for a team which want to compete in the Premier League and Champions League. And please, don't come and tell me that we should undergo a season of transition and lower our aims. We should put aside that fairy tail, it won't happen. Roman won't change his mind regarding that matter overnight.

Ba was brought in as a stop gap. That means what it means. He is good, but not good enough to carry a team of the "top four". Furthermore it seems that he cannot play more than once per week — that means he will be available for roughly 50% of the season. Asking Lukaku to handle the 50% remaining is just too much.

A great club has to have a great striking department to win. If take a look to the previous Champions League winners, all of them had a striker who was very important in their victory, and/or had a great striking force : Chelsea (Drogba) ; Barcelona (Messi) ; Inter (Milito) ; Barcelona (Eto'o) ; ManU (Rooney/Tevez/Ronaldo). That's the same with league winners : ManCity (Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli) ; ManU (Rooney, Own Goal (such a shame he couln't keep it up)) ; Chelsea (Drogba, Anelka) ; ManU (Ronaldo, Roney, Tevez) ; etc... Madrid (Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain) ; Barça (Messi... Eto'o), etc, etc, etc... I am not saying that we should win the CL or PL, but I am just stressing the importance of a great striking force. That's something we have lacked since the second season with Ancelotti (at the exception of the CL, where Didier was sublime).

That's why I think that we should buy a proven striker, someone of the caliber of Cavani.

agree we have had 3 transition years how many more are we going to have .,,Ba is merely a stop gap ,,a top striker is needed

[The only place to be 11,313]

Word up.

We won't get anywhere with Lukaku and Ba as our striking force. That's not good enough for a team which want to compete in the Premier League and Champions League. And please, don't come and tell me that we should undergo a season of transition and lower our aims. We should put aside that fairy tail, it won't happen. Roman won't change his mind regarding that matter overnight.

Ba was brought in as a stop gap. That means what it means. He is good, but not good enough to carry a team of the "top four". Furthermore it seems that he cannot play more than once per week — that means he will be available for roughly 50% of the season. Asking Lukaku to handle the 50% remaining is just too much.

A great club has to have a great striking department to win. If take a look to the previous Champions League winners, all of them had a striker who was very important in their victory, and/or had a great striking force : Chelsea (Drogba) ; Barcelona (Messi) ; Inter (Milito) ; Barcelona (Eto'o) ; ManU (Rooney/Tevez/Ronaldo). That's the same with league winners : ManCity (Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli) ; ManU (Rooney, Own Goal (such a shame he couln't keep it up)) ; Chelsea (Drogba, Anelka) ; ManU (Ronaldo, Roney, Tevez) ; etc... Madrid (Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain) ; Barça (Messi... Eto'o), etc, etc, etc... I am not saying that we should win the CL or PL, but I am just stressing the importance of a great striking force. That's something we have lacked since the second season with Ancelotti (at the exception of the CL, where Didier was sublime).

That's why I think that we should buy a proven striker, someone of the caliber of Cavani.

How many Premier League goals has Cavani scored?

Ba is a stop gap who has scored 15 league goals this season. Lukaku has scored 12. The truth is you don't know how good this kid could be, but right now he's surpassing everyone's expectations and we have other areas we need to fill. But you may have a point that Roman won't be willing to change his ways. Yay.

There was this other successful team by the way - Chelsea 2005. Drogba scored 16 goals that season but he was a facilitator - he brought other players into the game because we had goals from the likes of Lamps and Duff. We could have that next season with Mata, Hazard and Oscar getting goals elsewhere whilst Lukaku creates space and chances for them.

It's very easy to say we should spend £50 million on a striker like Cavani because he's proven but he's still a risk. We did that before when we signed someone called Fernando Torres and Lukaku has done everything asked of him.

People willing to write him off using jaundiced logic when they won't apply it to their own suggestions really does piss me off.

[The only place to be 11,313]

agree we have had 3 transition years how many more are we going to have .,,Ba is merely a stop gap ,,a top striker is needed

So signing an expensive striker is going to be the solution? Lukaku did cost £18 million by the way. We've seen what happened with Torres - the price tage guarantees him TWO FUCKING YEARS in the starting line-up whilst we sell promising youngsters.

Discussions like this add validity to your signature.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Ba is only 27 or 28, thats someone in their prime, not an old player. The injury prone thing is also overstated, he hasn't had a lengthy injury in the PL yet. There was a stat flying about that he hadn't missed a game in like 6 years due to injury before he signed for us.

LOOOL, I honestly thought he was 29 and was turning 30 soon. WOOOOW, way out of line!

Thanks and I agree!

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I will write something longer next time. But few things:

People information on this forum on Kakuta and PVA are still behind. Both players have played really well this season, and Kakuta attitude has significantly improved. Piet De Visser on numerous occasions has praised them for their development this season at Vitesse.

On Lukaku- I definitely agree we need to buy a superb and proven striker in the summer, but that doesn't mean that Lukaku should go on loan. If there is something to take away from United and City success over the years is the abundance of strikers they have at the club. People on numerous occasion here have said "City and United got lucky again with a late winner/equalizer." Its not luck that on numerous occasion one of Chicharito, Welback, Rooney, or RVP steps up. Lets not forget United is a flawed team in midfield and defense(less so now that Vidic is back), they would not be first if it was not for their strikers. Same thing with Shitty.

The decision to keep Lukaku is a easy one, because without a doubt he would make us a better team. I like the prospect of him coming in the 70-80 minute when we need a goal. His speed and strength is no doubt going to be an asset.

On the other side people are nuts to think Lukaku and Ba alone would be good enough for next season. We definitely need to buy a proven striker.

Feruz? lol he needs to go on loan, forget about him getting minutes at Chelsea, he would not even get a loan spell at any PL team let alone get playing time at Chelsea.

Ake? A loan spell he definitely needs, after that lets reevaluate.

I will write something later on my philosophy how to integrate youths another time.

The problem is that you can't integrate three strikers into a one-striker system. ManU and City play with 2 or even three strikers at a tim. 4 strikers for 2 spots is very different than 3 strikers for 1 spot. Let's say we play 60 games next year and we buy a Cavani or a Falcao or some other proven striker. They would rightly expect to start 40-45 matches. That gives 15-20 starts for Lukaku and Ba combined, mostly in domestic cups which is simply not enough to develop Lukaku or to keep either him or Ba happy. Ba can play on the wing, but we have Hazard, Mata, Oscar, De Bruyne, and Moses for attacking midfielder so any time he sees there would take away from their game-time.

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

LOOOL, I honestly though he was 29 and was turning 30 soon. WOOOOW, way out of line!

Thanks and I agree!

He does look a bit older haha

[The only place to be 11,313]

That's the same with league winners : ManCity (Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli) ; ManU (Rooney, Own Goal (such a shame he couln't keep it up)) ; Chelsea (Drogba, Anelka) ;

Lukaku has scored 13 league goals this season.

When we won the League in 2005, Drogba scored 10 league goals.

When we won the League in 2006, Drogba scored 12 league goals.

Now he did score 29 in 2010, but that was only the second time in 8 seasons at this club that he got more than the 13 league goals Lukaku has already scored this season.

And let's also remember Demba Ba has scored 15 or more goals in both of his last two seasons in the Premier League which isn't bad for a stop-gap.

[Santiago. 1,500]

I've said this before, but if we kept Sturridge we would've been better off - Ba, Lukaku and Sturridge next season would've been a great strikeforce IMO.

No, that is not just an opinion. That is the most objective statement here

[Muzchap 8,966]

We need to do it!

The Board + Roman need to grow some balls and play these lads.

I would start with:

Courtious

Chalobah (DM replace Mikel)

KdB - try him as DLP - he's got a great range of passing

Piazon - definitely impact Sub

Lukaku - bring him home now! He should be starting every game...

And fuck this 4-2-3-1 formation - with those players we could easily do 4-4-2 or 4-4-3 !!!

Fucking sick of 4-2-3-1

Josh - not ready, unlikely will ever be

Marin - needs more games a consistent run FFS - he's ending up like Sturridge, wasted on the bench...

The rest no idea - need to gen up on them

[Peace. 4,352]

Lukaku has scored 13 league goals this season.

When we won the League in 2005, Drogba scored 10 league goals.

When we won the League in 2006, Drogba scored 12 league goals.

Now he did score 29 in 2010, but that was only the second time in 8 seasons at this club that he got more than the 13 league goals Lukaku has already scored this season.

And let's also remember Demba Ba has scored 15 or more goals in both of his last two seasons in the Premier League which isn't bad for a stop-gap.

You didn't understand what I was saying (or I might have badly explained it).

What I was saying :

Manchester United 2012-13 : Van Persie (19), Rooney (11)

Manchester City 2011-12 : Aguero (23), Dzeko (14), Balotelli (13)

Manchester United 2010-11 : Berbatov (21), Own Goal (I don't remember the figure), Rooney (11), Hernandez (13)

Chelsea 2009-10 : Drogba (29), Anelka (11)

Manchester United 2008-09 : Rooney (12), Ronaldo (18), Tevez (5)

Manchester United 2007-08 : Ronaldo (31), Tevez (14), Rooney (13)

...

I was not talking about Chelsea when we had Mourinho. I was just looking at the five previous seasons (plus this one) to work out what was the current tendency in football. And from the stats, and my opinion, I can say that the striking force of the club which have recently won the Premier League has taken an important role in those victories — and this both regarding the goals scored and the work done (and I stress that I don't base my judgment solely on the goal record).

The same goes for the Liga. Though I don't really know for the Bundesliga and the Calcio.

And that is exactly the same for the Champions League. When Milan won in 2007, Kakà (who was played as a striker/Second striker), was instrumental in their victory (especially against United). And Super Pipo scored the two goals in the final. In 2008, the striking force Ronaldo/Tevez/Rooney was instrumental. In 2009, Eto'o was instrumental (in the CL and the league as well — he scored about 1/3 of Barcelona first goals). In 2010, Milito was instrumental (scored the two goals in the final). 2011, Messi was instrumental. 2012, Drogba was instrumental.

I am just saying that, to my understanding, the majority of the successful teams of the recent years had a powerful striking force. To my mind, a great striking force is required to be succesfull.

That's why I believe we shouldn't understimate the importance of the striking force. That's why I believe that it's presumptuous and unwise to give the key of our attack to "only" a kid — yes, ready or not, he is still a "kid" — and a stop-gap — yes, Ba is a stop-gap, but don't jump on me, I will explain latter why in my mind he is so, please.

Look, did you see what happens to Barça when Messi — for X ou Y reason — is not playing good ? The catalans struggle to score, they lack penetration, and they also have hard times to creat any goal-scoring chance. How many times this season Manchester United were saved by RvP ? How comes last year Arsenal managed to get the third spot ? The dutchman carried them there. How comes that ever sonce the summer 2010, we are in shambles ? Our striking force is average ! They aren't there to get in goals when it matters. They aren't there to cause havocs in defences, etc...

My point here, is that without a very good (not good, but very good) striking force, you will find it hard to lift some important trophies at the end of the season.

[zolayes 14,489]

So signing an expensive striker is going to be the solution? Lukaku did cost £18 million by the way. We've seen what happened with Torres - the price tage guarantees him TWO FUCKING YEARS in the starting line-up whilst we sell promising youngsters.

Discussions like this add validity to your signature.

you just argue for the sake of arguing ..really you are little more than a troll