I was very surprised with it tbh, even if he does prove to be a decent player.

It felt like we had promised to buy the lad, and we went through with the signing to save face. I think almost all Chelsea fans could have spent that 20m more wisely in areas we need to strengthen.

On a lighter note, i see the media speculation of us offering £30m plus Mata for Rooney have died down a little.

I'm at a disadvantage, I haven't seen any of the pre-season games apart from a few clips. I will therefore have to go by the views of my esteemed colleagues on some players.
Still a few either/or names in my first line up. Nothing works in DM, and too much choice in AM !

Cech
Azpiliqueta - Luiz - Ivanovic/Terry - Cole
Ramires - Van Ginkel/Essien
Mata - Oscar/ De Bruyne- Hazard
Lukaku


I would move Luiz back into midfield, but I can't see him wanting to do that if it I might affect his chances of cementing his place for Brazil in World Cup year.

Just been catching up on the RM match. Not the best performance, but will have proved a useful work-out for us.

As for everyone else here, DM still a big concern....

Cech
Azpi - Luiz - Terry - Cole
Oscar - Van Ginkel
Mata - De Bruyne - Hazard
Lukaku

Piazon gone to Vitesse for the season What a massive step-down from last year - they're not even in the Europa League FFS.

Lots of fans have van ginkel in the midfield - has he impressed that much?

In his first couple of appearances in Asia he didn't really mpress, but since then he's settled in more and looked pretty decent. Saying that though, if we were to sign an experienced DM before the season starts then van Ginkel would be the player from my team to make way.

Cech
Azpi Ivanovic Luiz Cole
vGinkel/Essien Ramires
deBruyne/Moses Mata/Oscar Hazard
Lukaku

I don't think JT or Frank would automatically make the starting line up on form anymore. Still got to fit in Schurrle, Torres and Ba. I don't think we have room for Rooney unless Torres leaves.

What a stupid loan! Might as well have gone to a Championship team for what that's worth! (At least that would have given him more experience of English football....)

We supposedly offered Vitesse Nathan Ake on loan too, but he turned down the move as he wants to stay in England.

Ake needs more time in the prem/ championship. He has potential but he didnt impress me last season.

It is interesting that most who have chosen a starting 11 have gone for a 4231 formation. Whatever happened to playing 442?

Cech
Azpi - Ivanovic - Terry - Cole
Mata - Oscar - Luiz - Hazard
(Rooney) - Lukaku

What is the problem with 4-4-2 these days? Surely 2 strikers playing at the top of the pitch is a great way of making a strike partnership in the big man little man mold that works so well?

Id like to see us play this against the lesser teams, who get 11 men behind the ball and our lone striker cannot get a sniff.

^ Interesting team. Juan Mata's going to be busy, playing on both the left and right wing!

Regarding your point about formations though, I don't think we should be locked into playing just one. 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-2 should all be options depending on the game/opposition.

Slip of the pen, I mean Hazard of course.

The changes in formation must be able to accommodate 2 strikers playing at the top of the pitch. We have lost so many points in the last 2 years from clubs sitting back, giving us 70% possession and us not being able to break them down. Id rather we just go for it and hammer them.

If rooney comes to us, i would like us to play 2 up front much more often rather than change rooney for torres/ lukaku on 60 minutes. That would make everyone unhappy.

I'd agree with that. Rooney + Lukaku would be a very strong combo. Torres/Ba + Lukaku wouldn't be worth dropping an attacking midfielder.

Quotes from Jose:

"There is no time limit, we have our squad of strikers. We have identified the player as one we would look to have with us."

"We are doing things legally, making the official bid directly to the club, no interviews or comments or direct relations with the player, no contact, absolutely nothing.

"We have done it in an ethical way and we are going to do that until the last day. And we will see how it comes."

Just what i want to hear, and how it should be done.

I think too much can be read into formations. What I like to see is fluidity. Even with 4-2-3-1 the striker shouldn't become isolated, the play dictates where individual players are at any given time. In possession it should quickly turn into a 4/5 attack, lose possession and you get players behind the ball as quickly as possible, defending from the front.
There's nothing wrong with 4-4-2, playing a diamond it just becomes another variation of 4-3-3 anyway. In turn, our 4-2-3-1 was often a 4-3-3, with Oscar going deeper and Mata and Hazard moving up at every opportunity.
Don't forget, Spain won the World Cup playing mostly 4-6-0.

I think too much can be read into formations. What I like to see is fluidity. Even with 4-2-3-1 the striker shouldn't become isolated, the play dictates where individual players are at any given time. In possession it should quickly turn into a 4/5 attack, lose possession and you get players behind the ball as quickly as possible, defending from the front.
There's nothing wrong with 4-4-2, playing a diamond it just becomes another variation of 4-3-3 anyway. In turn, our 4-2-3-1 was often a 4-3-3, with Oscar going deeper and Mata and Hazard moving up at every opportunity.
Don't forget, Spain won the World Cup playing mostly 4-6-0.

True, i did think that chelsea last season was starting to look a lot like spains side, we certainly have the midfield talent to pull that off too.

This summer has been quite odd for us, and every day i am more bemused. Today is full of yet more chaos in our rival teams and fans, from owners spouting off in the media, players training in the reserves, to players accused of assaulting women!

I really sympathise with them, having gone through it ourselves, and i hope Jose continues to have more positive influence.

Good to see Mata has been left out of the Spain squad. (same with Torres) Shame almost everyone else will be taking part in pointless friendlies all over the world.

And they are absolutely pointless. It is so close to the start of the season, that any injury, even a hamstring tweak, would keep them out of a few games.

What happens if a team has their star striker crocked, or gareth bale breaks a leg? Will the welsh FA pay spurs his market value of £85m if he never plays again?

Agreed. I'd rather someone more experienced but, if we stick with what we have, it will benefit us more in the long-term to have van Ginkel play as much as possible. He has, at time, shown resemblance to both Ballack (muscle) and Makelele (reading), so, at the very least I now understand why we went for him. If he can keep it up in the proper matches we'll have someone who can stay in CM for many years to come.

Piazon on loan to Vitesse, hope he gets a lot of game time there.

Nathan Ake not going on loan this year.....another daft decision ^

Roma @ 1am tonight, the last of our warm-up games. Roll on next weekend when the proper action starts.

I did see somewhere that if he stays with us for this season he'll then qualify as homegrown. Maybe the thinking behind the decision to keep him, as would seem baffling otherwise?

According to the Daily Mail, luiz will hand in a transfer request on Monday.

I hope that's not true. But if it is, let's not drag it out. Get the best price, wish him luck, and turn our attention to finding a replacement..immediately !