I can think of a Chelsea defender who is not the quickest in the world and think after winning the title again and a place in the team of the season he has not done too badly.

That's the beauty of having a intelligent manager like Jose. He looks at the players he has and matches each players strength to another players weakness and visa versa

Early on i would have bet anything on Michael Duberry being an England player for a decade or more Sadly . he was found out after a brilliant start to his career.

What about Loftus? Impressed?

Terry reads the game as good as any defender I've seen! Along with his perfect posistioning this is what makes up for his lack of pace. His timing if his tackles is also fantastic and lets remember that he's two footed as well. And now he's the alltime top scorer for a defender in the PL.
The greatest English centre half i've seen!

Zouma reads the game very well.

I not saying for a second he will ever be as good as JT but I don't think a lack of speed will hinder him if coached in the right way and I cannot think of many coaches better then Jose to teach him how to read the game and use his other skills to compensate for those he lacks.

Yes, I was impressed with Loftus-Cheek as well. Not so much with what he did, though he didn't do a lot wrong did he ? I was more impressed with his discipline and willingness to follow instructions. I had fears he might have tried to be a bit more flash because he is good with ball at feet and can be an adventurous player. But he was clearly under instructions to keep it simple, and kept to that brief. Some strong ball-winning challenges as well, something we've lacked in midfield..except from Matic of course.

Matic is a great passer too, when allowed to get forward.

What a great move it was to get him back!

Yes, a big surprise as well..for me anyway. I'd seen him a few times but had no idea he would turn out to be one of the best signings we've ever made. That position had been a problem for a long time, I can remember us putting all sorts of names foward. Matic has (almost) made it worth the wait.

The rumours regarding rebuilding the bridge flying around again.

Hopefully the club will handle it better then the last attempt.

They will need to sit down with the CPO this time and have real discussions and make serious attempts to address the concerns and issues.

Last time they created bad feelings between the fans and the club, they really need to rethink their strategy this time around.

we need a bigger ground

if they have to sell the bridge to fund it, great

Not as simple as that.

The main point is they don't own The Bridge so cannot sell it.

I thought Roman bought the ground?

Nope.

Still owned by the C.P.O (Chelsea Pitch Owners).

He tried to buy it from them but it did not go though.

Some of the things that went on during the attempt to buy was not becoming of Roman IMO.

After what he has done for the club, the cpo should just give it to him

Are you sure?
I thought the C.P.O only owned the pitch while Roman owned the stadium?

From memory it's all tied in with each other. The pitch and the turnstiles etc.

The short of it all is he cannot do anything without the C.P.O selling back the shares (even think the name Chelsea is tied into the CPO) selling back the shares which is something that I don't think will happen unless everyone sits down and have some discussions.

Rebuilding might be slightly different but I don't see Roman investing the massive amount of money needed unless he owns everything.

Even if he is willing to do so I think not sitting down with them for talks would be a serious mistake

Dixon is correct. The CPO own the pitch area, all the rest is owned by Roman.
I am a shareholder and the meetings when he wanted to buy were very acrimonious.
Think both sides have mellowed a bit but it won't be easy him buying the CPO out, ever.
Some very vocal shareholders including Bates and his cronies.

I think if he sat down and made promises with regards to season ticket prices ensuring current season ticket holders who currently sit together in a group would continue to do so etc he would have a better chance of it going though.



If moving is involved of course that would depend where, anyone out side the area I think he would struggle (and rightly so).

Heard from some Arsenal fans how badly the move was handled for them and we would want to avoid the new ground turning into a very expensive morgue like has happened for Arsenal.

Also it would be a perfect chance for the club to lead the way in safe standing. A club like Chelsea really getting behind it and not just "look into it" would be a massive positive.

Moving is the ideal thing as you just up sticks when it's complete but finding the land in West London is incredibly difficult plus then getting planning permission.

Unless they do something special I cannot see the move going though.

As you say space is not easy to find in the area.

Rebuilding is not ideal but might be the best option.

Being in West London is just too important to be given away.

The Kings Road etc is too much an important part of the D.N.A of the club.

We need to respect our history as well as our future.

The design of the Shed send has proved very costly.
You can get rid of a hotel but not people's homes.
I am sure when Ken did it he could see value in it but it's a bit of a mill stone now.

Great start.....

Surprised to see Costa playing. Not sure it's a good idea tbh. (and that applies even if he scores a hat-trick.)

Great goal by wba though.

This game feels like a training exercise

Costa looks very rusty

You were saying?