The Midfield Dilemma

[Spike 12,049]

Mourinho et Moutinho

[Rmpr 8,977]

Mourinho et Moutinho

Mourinho always has a Portuguese player in his teams...

[Spike 12,049]

Did you know? Mark Viduka, the Australian striker who played for Leeds United, Newcastle United and scored the winner against Chelsea in 2006 while playing for Middlesbrough is Luka’s second cousin.

You are joking? Haha, I can't believe that idiot Viduka is related to Modric. Though I do suppose ol' Mark is a Croat and Australia does have a fair few Croat expats.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

If we buy 2-3 players, it can easily reach 70mi. Which is exactly what Gourlay said...

25-30mi for Modric/Moutinho, 30-35mi for a Striker (dont be naive, it is comming) and another versatile player....

We can easily get a top striker for 20-25m like lewandowski or jackson martinez.Nonetheless you are right that our spending may will exceed the figure of 70m but i think it is neccessary and after this summer i dont think we will have to spend a whole lot of money because the core of our team for the next 5-10 years will be set and our loanned/youth players like omeruo,feruz,ake,PVA etc can fill the gaps.

[Spike 12,049]

Mourinho always has a Portuguese player in his teams...

Senhor Paulo?

[Rmpr 8,977]

We can easily get a top striker for 20-25m like lewandowski or jackson martinez.Nonetheless you are right that our spending may will exceed the figure of 70m but i think it is neccessary and after this summer i dont think we wil have to spend a whole lot of money as our loanned/youth players like omeruo,feruz,ake,PVA etc can fill the gaps.

I disagree with the Lewandoski part, but I agree with the rest.

This is how I view it: if we are going to buy a striker, it better be the absolute best we can get; any other option, we better stick with Ba, Lukaku and Feruz.

The CM must be the very best we can get as well, this is the top, top priority of the summer!

[Rmpr 8,977]

Senhor Paulo?

LOOOOOOOOOOOL, FORGOT HE EXISTED!

[Hutcho 8,443]

I disagree with the Lewandoski part, but I agree with the rest.

This is how I view it: if we are going to buy a striker, it better be the absolute best we can get; any other option, we better stick with Ba, Lukaku and Feruz.

The CM must be the very best we can get as well, this is the top, top priority of the summer!

True. I think we will probably break 70 mil in the transfer window, i am just saying its not necessarily essential...

[Mufassir08 2,400]

I disagree with the Lewandoski part, but I agree with the rest.

This is how I view it: if we are going to buy a striker, it better be the absolute best we can get; any other option, we better stick with Ba, Lukaku and Feruz.

The CM must be the very best we can get as well, this is the top, top priority of the summer!

Yup the cm has to be genuinely world class thats why i want moutinho/modric as first choices while on the striker front i would be happy with lukaku,ba and feruz/cheap 3rd choice striker.

[gary gordon 1,777]

So many good midfielders out there, but when you play a formation to suit one player, the others suffer. We are too bunched together playing three behind the single striker. We only need 1 DM and play.4-1-3-2. Give the midfielders more then 1 option to pass to and cause the opposition defence to stretch across the park, not compress and have 3 blokes marking or loan striker. The formation we are playing is actually taking Torres out of the game completely, not helping him.

[Strike 7,489]

You are joking? Haha, I can't believe that idiot Viduka is related to Modric. Though I do suppose ol' Mark is a Croat and Australia does have a fair few Croat expats.

yeah. didn't really like him much but i think its true ..found an interview Luka did with THTV..upon duckduckgoing it i found more related links..seems legit

[Spike 12,049]

yeah. didn't really like him much but i think its true ..found an interview Luka did with THTV..upon duckduckgoing it i found more related links..seems legit

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind ol' Viduka but that doesn't stop him from being a bit of an blunt knife.

[Backstreet09 499]

Modric has not impressed much for Madrid but there's some games where he totally looked beast . I'm not really sure they'll be willing to sell him after that wondrous goal he scored against United . However 30 M is not bad for him , even if they ask 5 or 6 millions more for him , it'd worth every single penny .

[The only place to be 11,313]

Yes of course we should not rely on Josh alone, which is why I voted for Moutinho, but actually don't think Josh will be even in our squad next season.

That's because he's not ready at the moment.

If you want a player to promote then Chalobah is the obvious choice and I'd be disappointed if he isn't in the squad. I don't know if he would be best used alongside Mikel or groomed as his replacement, but he has the talent to do either.

I voted for Modric though. He knows the league, he might be available and he's exactly what we need. The idea of dealing with Porto doesn't exactly fill me with joy and I'm not sure if Benat is the right guy for us.

[The Mak 4,459]

Personally, I'd much rather Beñat and Capoué, than just Modric or Moutinho.

[NishC300 1,865]

Benat has a 16.2 mil release clause and contract expires in 2014. should be cheap

as for josh, i'd like to have a senior option along with Josh. he should get a chance for sure but I'd like to see a DLP signing nonetheless

Firstly he has 16m release clause in his contract secondly he will be out of contract in 2014 so no way will betis ask 25m for him.

ah I didn't know that so yes it would be good to have him. Only thing is we'll most probably have stiff competition from other clubs

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Lots of choices, but let mind that all the players from Moutinho, Modric, Witsel, Strootman, Benat,...are less good defensively than Rambo and perhaps then a new DM or CB would be necessary too. Modric-Mikel sounds good, but Capoue, De Rossi, Wanyama would be more solid in defence.

Also Moutinho plays 4:3:3 in Portugal and Porto (along Fernandinho-Lucho and Veloso-Meireles)

Also it depends on manager. If we will play possesion football, Moutinho would be good, but for counter attacking football with letting ball and controll to opponent, we are screwed...

Besided Moutinho might get exhausted in PL, this isnt Portugal league afterall. No matter his run engine, PL will defo kill him a bit. Modric lacks tacking ability while Benat isnt experienced in european competition and you need very calm and experienced midfield general to lead you through CL. Strootman is most complete as he is stronger and has both attacking/defensive skills, but he is relatively unexperienced.

I hope next coach will have good plan and will get proper players, cuz its quite a gamble between all those players. CM, DM, CB, striker,...

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I chose Modric but not because of his experience in the EPL but because he has shown that he can be an excellent player in it.

[English Freak 456]

Even with a new player like Modric or Moutinho joining our midfield...I'm still concerned about our lack of options at DM..

Romeu is currently the backup DM to Mikel...but he could take a long time to regain his fitness and confidence after that injury..

[JDY 1,290]

My no.1 pick would be Sebastian Rode of Frankfurt. All action midfielder, excellent energy, variation in his passing and understands his tactical role. More than capable defensively. James McCarthy of Wigan is also severely underrated and a better option than the likes of Benat.

As for Mikel's position, there are numerous players that would be considered an upgrade. Morgan Schneiderlin/Lars Bender/Maxime Gonalons are all better players, and more suited to this system.