Wayne Rooney

[Toli 977]

TransferScoop ‏@TransferScoop 44m

"Rooney has informed his new boss he is available to play in the match to mark Rio Ferdinand’s eleven years at the club" [The Sun]

[iceboy 992]

Oh God.

[ChelseaFanUK 1,014]

Genuine question to the Utd fan

If Rooney plays tonight, even though its a testimonial, you think the boos will be deafening for him.

Edited August 8, 2013 by ChelseaFanUK

[Super-Mario 74]

Its over

[Pizy 17,874]

TransferScoop ‏@TransferScoop 44m

"Rooney has informed his new boss he is available to play in the match to mark Rio Ferdinand’s eleven years at the club" [The Sun]

[Henrique 9,133]

According to Gazzetta De Lo Sport Chelsea have contacted Eto'o.

[Pizy 17,874]

According to Gazzetta De Lo Sport Chelsea have contacted Eto'o.

They've been about as reliable as Sky Italia recently so I don't buy that.

Way too old to even be considered anyways.

[Atlas Lion 1,223]

Even if we do purchase Rooney, I can put 100 quid down that we will be facing the same issues in terms of distribution. In some extent, Torres was right about our midfield and it's incapability of handling transition under pressure. Both Lukaku and Torres were isolated up top and we had to rely on hoof or the occasional counter attack. Our build up play was slow and patient (something I found quite liked) but when it came to the final third or working through the middle, our midfielders couldn't cope with the pressure.

DeBryune and Van Ginkel I blame no part, considering they are both raw and young talents.

Lampard is being played out of position and certainly isn't getting any younger.

Mikel shows brilliance than fades away and Ramires lacks the one ability we probably need the most from him, which is distribution.

My Opinion is that we go into the season with a 4-3-3 with Van Ginkel/Oscar, DeBryune, and Essien into the midfield. Especially against top sides. I feel Ramires and Lampard would be most effective against sides that park the bus against us.

Mikel is a mystery for now

[Berke 58]

Please do not post Palmeri tweets in this forum time and time again we have been tormented by them.

Also, I respect Jose's no-nonsense attitude regarding the whole casilias situation but let's be honest here; if we spend £35m on Rooney regardless of how well he plays he will start games the same reason Torres starts games, the price tag.

[Berke 58]

Even if we do purchase Rooney, I can put 100 quid down that we will be facing the same issues in terms of distribution. In some extent, Torres was right about our midfield and it's incapability of handling transition under pressure. Both Lukaku and Torres were isolated up top and we had to rely on hoof or the occasional counter attack. Our build up play was slow and patient (something I found quite liked) but when it came to the final third or working through the middle, our midfielders couldn't cope with the pressure.

DeBryune and Van Ginkel I blame no part, considering they are both raw and young talents.

Lampard is being played out of position and certainly isn't getting any younger.

Mikel shows brilliance than fades away and Ramires lacks the one ability we probably need the most from him, which is distribution.

My Opinion is that we go into the season with a 4-3-3 with Van Ginkel/Oscar, DeBryune, and Essien into the midfield. Especially against top sides. I feel Ramires and Lampard would be most effective against sides that park the bus against us.

Mikel is a mystery for now

I agree with a lot of what you said apart from de bruyne/Oscar, van ginkel and essien to play against big sides. Surely lampard-Ramires would be best to play against big sides as they are experienced in big games and Ramires is a big game player no doubt.

Also we would want the likes of de Bruyne Oscar etc against the sides who park the bus as they can split open the defence with their excellent through balls, a quality which Ramires doesn't posses. Ramires is best used in a counter attacking set up, which will probably be played against the big sides.

Just my opinion I could be wrong

[Atlas Lion 1,223]

I agree with a lot of what you said apart from de bruyne/Oscar, van ginkel and essien to play against big sides. Surely lampard-Ramires would be best to play against big sides as they are experienced in big games and Ramires is a big game player no doubt.

Also we would want the likes of de Bruyne Oscar etc against the sides who park the bus as they can split open the defence with their excellent through balls, a quality which Ramires doesn't posses. Ramires is best used in a counter attacking set up, which will probably be played against the big sides.

Just my opinion I could be wrong

Fair point. Just feel that we can't rely on the old guards for long, our young blood need as much experience as they can get to blossom.

[JayC 171]

Fair enough. The thing is, there would still be more than enough games available for Lukaku even if he was just our number two forward instead of Mourinho throwing him in the deep end with massive expectations. Our team is still very much in transition with the likes of Lukaku, Hazard, Schürrle, Oscar, De Bruyne, Moses, Van Ginkel, Azpilicueta, Kalas etc. all being well under 23 and relatively inexperienced at this level so in order to equally compete for the title with you guys and City we could use having a couple of more players who are currently in their prime and have more experience of winning things, Rooney would very much fit the bill. In the last decade Chelsea have had great success in the cup competitions so the team playing 60 games again this season is very much a reality so don't tell me with a straight face that Lukaku couldn't get enough playing time to progress if we got someone else to play first choice forward. Lukaku starting around 20 games combined in all competitions and coming off the bench in nearly all the others wouldn't be so bad for his development, now would it? And if the new forward, at this point most likely Rooney, would get injured then it would be Lukaku's chance to shine but if the club didn't buy anyone and Lukaku would get injured, what then? Trust Torres or Demba Ba to fire us to the title?

Fair points. I still think he's a waste of money though.

As for Demba Ba, has he really had a fair crack? I don't remember him starting too many games consecutively. He was brilliant for Newcastle yet suddenly forgets how to shoot for Chelsea? Something weird going on there. I don't think it's fair to say he's not good enough until he gets an actual run in the team. He's a good player.

Torres is so weird though - I don't trust him.

Anyway, striker is a very important position so I understand why you'd want a proven talent at your disposal.

[nono 791]

Hope we get Suarez and not Rooney.

[Pizy 17,874]

Hope we get Suarez and not Rooney.

I'd prefer him too. Cheeky deadline day bid if all else fails.

[Berke 58]

Fair point. Just feel that we can't rely on the old guards for long, our young blood need as much experience as they can get to blossom.

I agree, I wish we would have more defensive minded players in midfield or perhaps mould one of de bruyne or Oscar to do some defensive duties like scheinsteiger/alonso/cabaye who have learnt how Edited August 9, 2013 by Berke

[JayC 171]

Genuine question to the Utd fan

If Rooney plays tonight, even though its a testimonial, you think the boos will be deafening for him.

I honestly can't call it.

If you look at it from Rooney's perspective, he's given the club nine years of good football. He's played all over the team without a single word to the press and such. He sacrificed his personal development in some cases, for the good of the team. It's hard to disregard all his hard work. Even people like me who were seething about his "lack of ambition" comment have to recognise that he's done far more good than bad for us. I don't mind him staying, I'll support him when he plays, but I still won't forget what he said and done.

I just don't understand so many things about this. We need Rooney to actually say something. Perhaps after the game, an interview is when it happens.

He hasn't done anything yet, that there is no coming back from.

[Jype 6,398]

Fair points. I still think he's a waste of money though.

As for Demba Ba, has he really had a fair crack? I don't remember him starting too many games consecutively. He was brilliant for Newcastle yet suddenly forgets how to shoot for Chelsea? Something weird going on there. I don't think it's fair to say he's not good enough until he gets an actual run in the team. He's a good player.

Torres is so weird though - I don't trust him.

Anyway, striker is a very important position so I understand why you'd want a proven talent at your disposal.

I agree that Ba is a decent player but would you say he's good enough to lead the line for a team that hopes to challenge for the title? You have Van Persie and City have Agüero, just to put things into perspective. If the answer is no, then I really don't see much of a role for him in the team because we have Lukaku too. He will probably stay and fight for the place with Lukaku but I can see him moving on next year at the latest. He came into the side at a bad time when we desperately needed a stopgap striker to help us qualify for the Champions League but now Romelu is back, we have a new manager and might even have another striker coming in before the window closes. Kind of a shame because he really seems like a nice guy and is actually a pretty good player too but like I said, not good enough to lead us to trophies and not worth risking Lukaku's development either.

[Strike 6,996]

How far should the club go for Rooney? I'd say 30mil with reduced wages