Ake didnt get much time, but he was far from good. he looked very nervous indeed.

How about giving kdb a run out?

I think KDB is less holding more creative, like Frank. Still not sure what Ramires eventual/best position is, but he's another contender for that spot and is wasted on the right. Luiz/Mikel/Romeu/Ake are our DMs and none of them are that convincing. A solid buy there could take us that next step as our defence have very little protection from midfield and got exposed a lot last season.

I cannot understand why we/ Fellaini have gone cold on the deal. he has stated he wants to play for us, and thinks DM is his best position.

It would be awful if he ended up at Arse or United next season. Id rather Fellaini than Shirley, who seems surplus to requirements.

Latest goss is that Chelsea want Lewandowski now!

Cheaper than Cavani and a great player. I would be happy with that transfer!

re Cundy's opinion on Mata.

There's no question he's our best and most important player now!
Whenever he's in the game and playing at the top of his game, Chelsea are a threat to any team!
However, as good as he is, i do think he lacks that crucial burst of acceleration over 5 yards that will stop he from being a really, really great player.

Mata was our player of the season last year.

Not bothered at all by his speed or apparent lack of. His creativity and goal scoring ability is one of the best in football.

You dont need speed when you are that talented. Speed covers for lack of talent in my book, as does size.

Mata will be awesome until Mourinho falls out with him

Ake looked good when he played last year. I think I'd loan him out though. He's had a season where he's played a bit with us, now he needs regular football. We have younger players who could stay with us and play a part with us this season.

The Mikel rumours are back Getting rid of him would improve us even without a replacement.

Absolutely

sell him

Moyes - never won anything whatsoever
Pellegrini - never won anything in europe
Rodgers - Enough said
Wenger - not won anything in 8 years

Are these 4 teams entering the chelsea school of managerial merry-go-rounds?

It's tricky with Mikel. He obviously hasn't developed as we hoped and is not the successor to Claude Makelele, but when called upon in the in the CL semi finals/final last year he did a good to excellent job. He's still so consistently average in the PL, but has moments where he shines so the potential (at 26?) is still there. Could Jose bring the consistently good out of him or is that all there is to him. Don't know, but if we sell him he'll need replacing with the finished product otherwise it's not worth the while. Kalou, Alex, Malouda and Meireles were all capable of doing a very good job on their day and we've not replaced the depth and experience they provided. Mikel falls into that category. As long as he's not on crazy wages, wheres the benefit to us in replacing him. If he we had someone already to fill that role it might be different, but I don't think Luiz, Ake or Romeu (or any of our countless loanees) have shown they're significantly better than him.

[quote=codeblue;66408000]Moyes - never won anything whatsoever
Pellegrini - never won anything in europe
Rodgers - Enough said
Wenger - not won anything in 8 years

Are these 4 teams entering the chelsea school of managerial merry-go-rounds?[/QUOTE]

I'm sure you live in hope.

Mourinho- schooled in Spain. Left Chelsea as soon as Ferguson got back on top. Couldn't win the Champions League, even with Ronaldo.

Previous counts for nothing. Pellegrini, Moyes and Mourinho all start from scratch. It'll be interesting.

[quote=NorthernNinny;66415126]
Isn't that what you are doing with your new manager Nin

I think that's a fair assessment. At present Mikel is the only experienced holding player we have. Luiz may fit into that role, but it's too early to say for certain. Romeu has never really impressed me in the few games he's had up to now, and Ake is one for the future..maybe.
We certainly need to add at least one quality defensive midfield player, if not two. Luiz may provide one answer to our problems, and Mikel would be adequate as back-up as you say. Mikel seems to be ok providing he keeps it simple. In those CL games it was a "backs to the wall" exercise really, and he didn't let us down. But the same could be said of every player in the team I suppose.

One thing to bare in mind with Mikel is the fact that he's been with us this long without any interest from other clubs. If we turn it down now because we don't have established cover we run the risk of being stuck with him for good - it already feels like he's been here a lifetime.

While I hope we'll make a signing in his department I'd take the risk and get rid of him even if we don't.

I'm struggling to work out why Cavani's more eager to join Man City than Chelsea. They're less competitive in Europe, have more competition for places, won't pay any more wages, and are about five years behind Chelsea in their oil-funded development.

He has done well with us, helped win numerous trophies but its good to freshen up the squad. Move him on if he wants to go.

I would prefer him to Cavani for those reasons and his age. My one concern would be if he could perform at the same level in a different team. Anecdotally I can think of loads of young Bundesliga based players who have made a big move abroad and not had the same impact. Almost like the German teams are so well organised that they make the individual players look better than they are. So we wouldn't necessarily get the Dortmund Lewandowski as we don't play or set up like Dortmund. Even if that is the case, at 2 years younger and half the price it should be a no brainer to buy him instead of Cavani.

Another poor game for Hulk.

edit - and a lovely assist for Oscar

Falcao was number one on my wish list, he's gone. If we miss out on Cavani, I'm becoming more and more convinced that we should leave things as they are up front. Lewandowski is an attractive alternative if the price is right, but after that is there a viable option ?
I certainly don't want us turning to the likes of Higuain or Dzeko, the mention of their names just sets me thinking that perhaps Torres isn't so bad really.

Someone said something interesting tonight (I thought anyway)..if Torres was playing in Spain or Italy, with his reputation and scoring record, and he was available, wouldn't we be interested ?
I think we probably would be quite excited at the prospect of him joining Chelsea. Football is still a funny old game.

Far be it from me to defend Torres, I've not been his greatest fan over the past couple of years. But some of the players mentioned as replacements are just not in the same class.

After the long season, most of our decent players are now in the Confederations Cup, arnt they going to knackered for the start of next season?

the fixture list for our players is ridiculous. ths is why we need a big squad

mourinho the only one.