Lord

That's too weak defensively. They are going to murder us on the counter. Both Torres and Ba starting in attack. Both Luiz and Ramires starting at the back. Just won't happen. :)

van Gaal. Confirmed.

--------------Torres----------- Schurrle-----Oscar----Willian -----Lampard--Luiz-------------- Cole----Terry----Cahill---Dave ---------------Cech-----------

True, but we can't be Manchester City or PSG or Monaco all the time.

what did Jose say ?

Well not really. Lukaku comes for free. Costa, thankfully, has a 32 million buyout clause. Another midfielder would be fine, but is not the most pressing transfer issue. And then we can sell a few and then fund for a world class left back.

No team deserves to win the Premiership without a centre forward. Told this before this season started, told this again in the winter transfer window and now here again at season-end. Letting Lukaku leave was the biggest mistake Jose ever made.

pathetic from oscar :(

We've made losses amounting to a whopping £ 700 million over the last 10 years. Emotions aside, that figure alone is reason enough to get a bigger stadium, else we will fade into mediocrity eventually.

Good post, as always :)

One question, I asked, and this...Phew

I don't think even Costa will be enough. We need bloody two strikers. Still can't believe it.

The build up from the back has been really slow. We will surely improve in the second half. What we need is a few changes in personnel and Jose delivering his famous jackhammer into some of the players' skulls. We will be fine. Three points. More than four hours without a SINGLE goal in away matches in the Premier League. Wow.

Get Eto'o on. Two strikers. Dump Ramires. Get Luiz on. If we can't field and win with an extremely attacking formation against the lowly Swansea, who are pretty much playing with one man less the entire match, we don't deserve to win the Premiership. The midfield has been awful.

No fresh updates on this, I suppose

Update: Torres now has a whopping 9 goals in all competition this season. That is just outside the top 150 performers in Europe this season !! Even Gerrard has twice as many (18).

Suddenly I'm no longer confident about fixtures such as these. 1-1 Someone to score first and Schurrle to get the equalizer.

Lol. Looks like someone else is seriously pissed off here. Faith and pragmatism are different. I remember scores of posters here 'convinced' that we'd win the league even without a proper CF now that Mourinho was back. That is FAITH. Back then I made a few posts that we would definitely NOT win the league without a marquee striker and then I remember getting barraged by "some" so-called established ShedEnders (don't know if it was you) with the same kind of sh*t: "pissed off", "faith", "not welcome here", "sh*t fans", "embarrassed". I know all about getting behind the team and hoping for the best. But this 'faith' thing at the Shed sometimes gets on my nerves.

This result is bad as well as good in some ways. Getting top footballers is always difficult towards the end of the transfer window when their prices might soar and other factors might come in. Now at least we can start focusing on our summer acquisitions with greater intent. Centre forward: Can't stress enough. Sell Torres (if we can), sell Ba, buy Costa and depending on the Lukaku situation, either release Eto'o or give him a contract extension. Even if Atletico use Courtois as the bargain tool to let Costa go, better get the man. We will struggle to finish in the top four if we goof up the same way we did last summer. CM: Luiz does not do it for me, Mikel only passes sideways and backwards, Ramires does not have the brains to go with his energy. A partner for Matic is key to our success. Both Ramires and Luiz will fetch top dollar. We need to sell one and buy one here. Centre back: Assuming Luiz goes, it is imperative we sign a centre back. Both Terry and Cahill have been incredibly fit this season. Every year won't be the same. Thibaut Courtois: Depends on how Atletico decide to play with us. We need Costa more. Enough said.

So what happens of the season? The PL is gone, the CL is gone, the FA is long gone. I cant wait for the season to end so that we finalize our strikers.

Apparently Chelsea fans currently smashing up shops and cafés in central Paris

I'm going 2-1 for us, Torres and someone to score and Zlatan to get one back.

And most people here seem to have the idea that having two world class keepers on the same team helps both them improve. I know that makes sense, but from what I've seen, Diego Lopez has gone from being 'perhaps' the finest keeper in Europe at the beginning of season to pretty 'average' by the end of it. Courtois at Chelsea would be the ditto situation at Madrid. One legend and one upcoming hero. From what I gather, the unrest is real.

Isn't this a really nice opportunity to cash in on Courtois ? I know most of you at the Shed will be opposed to the idea especially that he's already world class and will keep improving over the next few years. BUT we need a striker more than anybody else. Cech will remain world class for another three-four years. Goalkeepers don't age so soon. Having them both on the bench is like having Casillas and Lopez at Madrid. Is it really worth it ? Asking both Cech and Courtois to fight it out makes no sense either. Cech is NOT going to improve one bit and one of the two will be wasted on the bench. If acquiring Costa's services means a Courtois + cash deal with Atletico, I don't think that's a bad idea at all. Now that Luiz will be stuck with us for at least one more year with the Barcelona situation, where's the cash ? Or do we not care about FFP ? Having everybody back with us - Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Marko Marin, Victor Moses, Ryan Bertrand, Gael Kakuta, Josh McEachran and 21 others has a feel good factor about it. But really ? Really ?

But again, to ask for trophies every season is too demanding. That is irrespective of the club's stature. IF at the end of the season, our squad improves (that means acquiring a proper striker and clearing some of the deadwood), and we show signs of improvement over the preceding year, I'd be happy overall.