I think we're a striker away from being devastating. We're never going to be a Manchester City who are going to win 6-0 or lose 4-3, Jose would have a heart attack, but we have nearly all the jigsaw pieces in place. Matic is going to be brilliant, I think, strong, powerful, good in the air, the front 3 in midfield are unplayable on their day and Hazard is playing out of his skin, the defence are becoming almost impenetrable, so it's just a striker like RVP or Suarez or a Didier who defences fear and can score almost at will. I love Torres, but he's never going to be that player.

I don't think Roman looked too upset on Sunday, looking at the pictures. That award goes to David Beckham who looked miserable

The only thing we really need to improve is to start playing for the whole match rather than in patches or for one half.

Its called tactics.

He knew the way to beat Utd was to spoil the game. Its what has given him his great record against Utd. Yes while they not quite to the level they have been in the past I am not jumping on the fall of the Utd Empire bandwagon quite yet. They are still a very very good team and able to give any team in the league a good beating on their day. If you stand toe to toe with them you stand a very good chance of getting a beating so we played a different type of game, Its why Jose is so good, He knows Sunday was the knockout blow to Utd.

Utd played better then us but we won by a good score line and did deserve the result. The "spoiling" tactics worked.

Its what Utd did for so many years so well

Think you doing a slight diservice to Rooney, He is one of the most intellegent players in Europe and can play in all sorts of different ways. Thats why I want him, Not only would he get us goals he would also get Oscar,Hazzard,Willian goals another reason I want him. Jose likes players you can give orders to and he will follow them to the letter, Rooney is perfect for that, He would play in defence if so ordered and do a bloody good job

As for Suarez? I would rather Roman sold us back to Ken Bates for a quid and we stayed in the Championship for ever then have someone like him even play for Chelsea for even 5 minutes.

I think selling Mata to United is a mistake.

It will only help them start competing for the title next season.

Also can't see Chelsea being able to win the title unless a top class striker arrives in this window.

I think it would be madness.

People saying Utd are no threat? Maybe not this season but if they qualify for the CL this season, they will definitely be able to attact big names in the summer.

Why would we want to help them qualify for the CL?

Makes absolutely no sense to me at all.

I can see why a loan deal might possibly happen, for the rest of this season, as we have played them both home and away, and he could help Utd take points off City and Arsenal which would help us, but that would still end up in possibly helping them qualify for the CL.

I am sure PSG or another club abroad would want him in the summer, if Juan wants to go, then that is what I would do, if I was in charge.

But would he want to go to those clubs?

This has been "our" player of the year for the last two years, He has done nothing wrong and just a victim of circumstance and has accepted it with great dignty. Should we not show him the same to him? Yes thanks Juan we dont want you anymore but you been a good boy just go and play for Monaco etc? I would want our club to treat players like him better then that.

Are we really worried about us being good enough to qualifying for the Champions League if Utd do? I dont really care if Man Utd finish in the top 4 or Liverpool or Spurs or West Brom, as long as Chelsea do and with our current manager and our current team and with the right investment I dont see that not happening.

Are we really after all this time scared of other teams in the premership? F them. We have the best manager in the league with a amazing bunch of players and money to spend on new ones. Would having Mata make Man Utd a force in the league? No idea but I would look forward to the fight if it did and would enjoy us winning the fight.

Firstly, I absolutely adore Juan Mata - the thought of him leaving horrifes me, but as you say, he doesn't deserve to be on the bench.

I never said Monaco, I meant a PSG or a Real Madrid.

It's not about being scared, its about common sense. Utd wouldn't sell Rooney in the summer and Liverpool wouldn't sell Suarez - and rightly so! Why the hell would you want to strengthen any team around you. Arsenal did with RVP and look what happened there last season. I have no idea where Juan would want to go, he loves living in London. But its the club that is in charge about where he goes, not the player.

And where are Arsenal this season? Yes they strengthend Utd but what did they do? Went out and strengthen themselfs.

It was right for Utd not to sell Rooney in the summer, They had just lost SAF and having a new manager come in and sell one of their biggest players would have sent out negative message, Liverpool need Suaraz for any chance to finish anywhere near the top 4. Those are very different to where we are with Mata. We are selling a player we are not using and baring serious injures we wont be using anytime soon. We are in a better place then we have been in the last two years with some great players and a great manager, Utd and Liverpool were not the same shoes as us. We are very healthy they are not.

If we want this big named striker we need to raise some money, Even if Roman wanted to fund another 50m plus striker out of his own pocket he could not. We need to get it from player sales

I dont see Real coming in for him and I dont see PSG really being the sort of club Mata would want to go to and plus do they really need him? Utd do really need a player of his like and need to make a splash in the transfer market to show its not quite as bad as its being made out at Utd, All means we can add a few million quid more on to the fee. Plus we treat Mata with the respect he deserves. If Mata picks PSG etc then thats fine and we get a good amount of money then thats wondeful but if he really wants to go to Utd and they are offering the right amount of cash and the deal is acceptable to us then I think we owe it to him to say "thanks and go with our respect".

He has acted in the right way thoughout and I think we should return the favour to him. I rather he left Chelsea thinking well of us then a forced move to somewhere he dont really want to go.

I agree and don't begrudge him a move to Utd if he wants to go there. I'm just not sure it's the right place for him right now as he'll be expected to save their season almost single handedly. It would almost be a bold move to join them with Rooney wanting out, Van Persie going through whatever he's going through and Moyes holding the reins. A PSG or Atletico move would be a more likely bet for top level football in the near future.

Maybe and if he goes there so be it but I just think he deserves to have the choice. If he caused us issue like a certain Liverpool striker has caused for them then I would be all for selling him to FC Kkakaksaskasaksa in the middle of nowhere but since he has great in all of this then I think we do owe him something.

Plus we must remember this is Jose we talking about, If he was even slightly worried about it coming back to bite us on the arse he would let Mata rot in the reserves rather then sell him to Utd

The Jose factor is why I think we should send him off with our best wishes. He'll never be a Jose player. He does not have the engine for the work Jose is asking of Willian, Oscar, Hazard and Schurrle. I'll miss his silky skills but he deserves to be getting game time somewhere.

Even Chelsea would be silly to refuse a 40 million offer

and to have a great career somewhere. Maybe if we did get Pepe as was the plan it might have been at Chelsea but thats the way it goes sometimes, I just want us to do something right for once and letting him make the choice is that

Yep, if he ends up there I hope he does save them and super heroes them to 4th spot while simultaneously making himself the first choice number 10 in the Spain squad. He's been amazing for us so hope he continues to shine elsewhere. The £40million would be nice as well.

With all the creative players Chelsea could have played like Manchester City this season and with Mata sadly it's not Jose's way.

I have no doubt another trophy is just around the corner but losing Mata and not bringing in a replacement would be a disappointing window.

I agree with you about wishing him all the best for the future, wherever he goes.
But selling a player of his quality does almost set a precedent for us in in recent times. The last true star in his prime to leave was Robben, but he wanted to leave. If Mata leaves, it's because we've decided the money is too good to turn down.
What happens if other rumours are true, and PSG offer us £80m for Hazard in the summer as some reports are saying. Would that be too good to turn down ?

The difference is Mata wasn't a starter for us under Jose and that was unlikely to change. Cashing in makes sense in this case and is good for everyone including the player.

Yes, I guess you're right. It still hurts to lose a player of that quality, who has basically done nothing wrong.
I see the BBC are reporting that United have made an official offer of £35m, I'm guessing that £37/38m could clinch it ?

Whats the point of having a player of his quality if he not going to play?


Hazard is a important memember of our team, Mata is not. Mata will not feature in Jose plans whatsoever this season or any other season. Mata has no future at Chelsea, In fact depending on buys at the end of the season he might not even get on the bench next season, Thats just a fact of life we have to get use to. At the moment he is taking up the place of someone who might be needed. We need to forget how talented the player is because it has nothing to do with whats going on. Him not playing is nothing to do with how good he is its he sadly dont fit anywhere into the system we are playing, He dont even fit into Jose's plan B.

I dont want us to be like another club who's fans start burning shirts because a players wants to leave. Not saying we would do that as we are better then that but I dont want him to go under a cloud. At the weekend I hope we give him a great send off.

Yes I dont want to sell him to Utd or anyone else but have accepted he has got to go. I doubt many clubs would come in for him now with big money offers unless they really really needed him, That for me leaves a list of one

Yes, I (reluctantly) have to agree, as I posted in reply to kana. I still can't help finding it amazing that we can't find a place for a player of his quality. In terms of pure footballing ability and vision, I'd put him second only to Hazard in our squad.

Its the old question, Do you change the system (at the moment a succesful one you could say) to suit the players or do you get players to fit the system? For me the system has to come first.

You could say and I would find it hard to disagree he is a better player then Hazard but sadly he just missing that tiny something that allows him to fit into what the manaager wants.

When we talking about players and teams at the level we are here we really are talking about the most slimmest of margins. If he had 0.0005% of that something he would be in the team.

To be honest this could be one of the few deals in football that actually makes sense to all parties.

Thats the reason i could actually perhaps see it happening when on the face of it a player going between the clubs for that sort of money would be a very rare event.

Yep I dont really see anyone else offering anywhere near the amount in the January window.

And I never have seen the point in putting off sales or buys.

If you think the player is worth the money just pay it and get the deal done and dusted so both sides can get on with the business of playing football and not name calling in the playground and seeing who has the biggest conker

United bid £35m for Mata, according to the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25849959

It'll be interesting to see if we try and get Rooney instead of the cash.