Luka Modric

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Great player, but maybe he doesnt fit us. Short, creative, we have enough of those already (Mata, Eden, Marin)

BTw, give Marin proper play time and I'm sure he will be very good.

[Zone 290]

Now people want him in after performing well against Spain. Typical.

That game was just a bit above his standards . Everytime i've watched Modric play he has been class and this game does not change my view on him.

Modric can add so much to our game and step it up a notch. Any top team that gets his signature is going to be force to be reckoned with.

ps: is he worth 35 mill? Definitely.

[Pizy 17,860]

That game was just a bit above his standards . Everytime i've watched Modric play he has been class and this game does not change my view on him.

Modric can add so much to our game and step it up a notch. Any top team that gets his signature is going to be force to be reckoned with.

ps: is he worth 35 mill? Definitely.

That's exactly why I'm praying United don't buy him. He's too good to just give up interest on. Even if we need to get into a bidding war between us and United, we should.

He's a piece who could help transform either side into a dominant team.

[Justin_3d 1,140]

It's just written Sexy style all over him.

Roman wants to play attractive?

No other player can help you bring that style then Modric himself!

[The Skipper 20,593]

It is quite funny how people were writing him off before today's game, saying they'd rather have Cabaye or whoever.

[Pizy 17,860]

People on twitter saying there's no where to play him...

Are they blind?

[Justin_3d 1,140]

People on twitter saying there's no where to play him...

Are they blind?

Lampard place. Simple as that!

[Jase 43,479]

Could even be used as a CAM. Has played that role very well for Croatia.

[Pizy 17,860]

Lampard place. Simple as that!

It's not like Lamps wouldn't get playing time. Now that he's won the ultimate prize, he can relax a bit, take a lesser role, and not feel as though his window to win the CL is closing. He'd still get plenty of minutes and can play a vital role in the many competitions we're in.

We bring in Hulk/other RW and Debuchy/other RB who's good

defensively and going forward, and Modric, we'll be title favorites. Europe can be ours.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I think the need for a deep lying playmaker next to Mikel reduces when you have Hazard, Mata and Hulk (?) in front of them. If we need a more direct threat I think it could work. Personal opinion though.

I do realise that Rambo isn't as good in possession, but what I would personally like to see is Mikel stepping up as a Xabi Alonso type player. Ancelotti tried turning Mikel into his Pirlo, we started to see Mikel spraying accurate 30 yard passes, almost being the lynchpin of the team, the quarterback. Add Ramires to aiding Mikel in winning the ball back, sort of like Gattuso, whilst offering carrying the ball at pace and you could have a quite lethal midfield combo. Sort of like how the Mascherano and Xabi Alonso partnership panned out.

Regarding Mata... He would do exactly that. I don't think Mata needs 30 yard passes from our midfield to run on to, that's his job more than anything, to provide those through balls for Torres or Sturridge, or even potentialy Hulk coming in from the right. So would Hazard in a sense. They could both in turns drop a little deep to gather the ball in attack just like David Silva did quite often for City which in turn could release Rambo to join the attack which offers pace and diversity in attack.

We must also remember that tactics aren't necessarily set in stone, they are a mere indication of general shape of the team. One would similarly wonder how Man City make the below team work:

Tevez

Nasri Aguero Silva

Toure Barry

Similarly we could have:

Torres

Hazard Mata Hulk(?)

Ramires Mikel

It could work in my opinion. It offers tactical flexibility, a combative midfield, and pace all over the pitch.

Toure is excellent at moving the ball and Milner is fine and Mikel is nothing like Alonso. Mikel is good at making short, accurate passes in tight space but he's not a creative midfielder in the least. His ball movement is actually a little slow and he rarely passes the ball more than few yards. That's fine. He's in the lineup for his defensive skills and intelligence. In the last two years, in 109 league games, Ramires and Mikel combined for 2 assists. They simply are not good enough to create chances with any sort of regularity.. Toure and Milner combined for 11 assists last year alone.

[Justin_3d 1,140]

You got to ask why would Mourinho want Modric when they got a far bigger team then ours?

FFS they got Sahin on the bench!!!

Mourinho can make space for him, why can't we?

[Pizy 17,860]

You got to ask why would Mourinho want Modric when they got a far bigger team then ours?

FFS they got Sahin on the bench!!!

Mourinho can make space for him, why can't we?

We definitely can. All down to the smug, bald prison warden Levy that's keeping him locked up.

We should come in at £30m and test his resolve. If Modders sees that we really want him, he could the force his move.

[Justin_3d 1,140]

We definitely can. All down to the smug, bald prison warden Levy that's keeping him locked up.

We should come in at £30m and test his resolve. If Modders sees that we really want him, he could the force his move.

I thought he did?

[The Skipper 20,593]

Toure is excellent at moving the ball and Milner is fine and Mikel is nothing like Alonso. Mikel is good at making short, accurate passes in tight space but he's not a creative midfielder in the least. His ball movement is actually a little slow and he rarely passes the ball more than few yards. That's fine. He's in the lineup for his defensive skills and intelligence. In the last two years, in 109 league games, Ramires and Mikel combined for 2 assists. They simply are not good enough to create chances with any sort of regularity.. Toure and Milner combined for 11 assists last year alone.

Agreed on most points, but I think Ramires is down for 9 assists on the official CFC website for last year? So that's 10 assists all together if I'm correct, which isn't too bad. We'd be relying on the likes of Hazard, Mata, Torres and potentially Hulk to come up with the majority of the assists, which is fine.

[Pizy 17,860]

@Justin- LOL

[YouNameIt 1,511]

Dont want him. Id rather see us buy a strong and young DM with some ability to link the defense with the offense, meaning decent defensive ability with decent passes and distrubiton of the ball. And NOT a huge star, maybe someone in the price range of 15-20m who can slowly take over after Mikel and even lamps now.

[Pizy 17,860]

Dont want him. Id rather see us buy a strong and young DM with some ability to link the defense with the offense, meaning decent defensive ability with decent passes and distrubiton of the ball. And NOT a huge star, maybe someone in the price range of 15-20m who can slowly take over after Mikel and even lamps now.

Yann M'Vila?

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Agreed on most points, but I think Ramires is down for 9 assists on the official CFC website for last year? So that's 10 assists all together if I'm correct, which isn't too bad. We'd be relying on the likes of Hazard, Mata, Torres and potentially Hulk to come up with the majority of the assists, which is fine.

Wiki has Ramires with 6 assists and Soccernet with 5 in 44 matches in all competitions (and 1 or 2 in the league). Either way, I don't think it matters. Ramires simply isn't a creative force. He's good at opening space for other players and making key runs, but he doesn't have the skill-set to replace Lampard. We don't need a Lampard replacement this season, but when we do, it will have to be someone who can open up the other team. It's not just the direct assists that Lampard contributes, it's the probing balls that open up the other team's defence. You need that creativity from midfield, otherwise the offence becomes too stagnant.