sergio7

To me it seems that Brown hasn´t nailed down a position which will probably hurt him.  I just don´t see him as a winger.

I think the media in general has fuelled this so called youth movement.  Every club must have youth.  You're a failure if you don't bring youth.
 
Well guess what.  In the last 15 year Sir Alex Ferguson brought through two players - Ronaldo and Rooney.  That's it.  
 
The problem is times have changed.  Ferguson wouldn't have been able to get away with what happened in the 90s.
 
There's too much competition, winning and winning quickly has become of utmost importance.
 
Look at the top teams in the world. Youth is no longer 19,20 or 21 unless you're a Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar.
 
Youth is 23, 24.  This is the age where young players are establishing themselves.  
 
Varane - best young defender in the world
 
Pogba - best young midfielder in the world.
 
Hazard - best young winger in the world
 
If you're not as good as these then you're just not going to get in to a top team until you're about 23.
 
Matic is a monster of a player but he had to go away and at 24 become arguably the best midfielder in Portugal the last decade for Chelsea to contemplate bringing him back.
 
This was a message not just to RLC but to all Youth players.  IF you want to be in this Chelsea team you have to work your ass off and become one of the best players in the world.  It's that simple.  
 
We shouldn't rush them and we should be patient.  At the moment our youth are nowhere near being ready for a team that wants to be the best in the world. 

I think the media in general has fuelled this so called youth movement.  Every club must have youth.  You're a failure if you don't bring youth.
 
Well guess what.  In the last 15 year Sir Alex Ferguson brought through two players - Ronaldo and Rooney.  That's it.  
 
The problem is times have changed.  Ferguson wouldn't have been able to get away with what happened in the 90s.
 
There's too much competition, winning and winning quickly has become of utmost importance.
 
Look at the top teams in the world. Youth is no longer 19,20 or 21 unless you're a Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar.
 
Youth is 23, 24.  This is the age where young players are establishing themselves.  
 
Varane - best young defender in the world
 
Pogba - best young midfielder in the world.
 
Hazard - best young winger in the world
 
If you're not as good as these then you're just not going to get in to a top team until you're about 23.
 
Matic is a monster of a player but he had to go away and at 24 become arguably the best midfielder in Portugal the last decade for Chelsea to contemplate bringing him back.
 
This was a message not just to RLC but to all Youth players.  IF you want to be in this Chelsea team you have to work your ass off and become one of the best players in the world.  It's that simple.  
 
We shouldn't rush them and we should be patient.  At the moment our youth are nowhere near being ready for a team that wants to be the best in the world. 

I must confess i don't know much about the youth players and normally am quite reserved about their potential.  Every year there is more pressure on youth players to be better at a younger age.  It's getting to the point where if they haven't shown real potential by the age of 20 then playing for a big club is unlikely. (i realise this is a sweeping statement.)
 
For me Baker and Chalobah are probably not going to make it at Chelsea, although i can see them both being premiership players.
 
Ake has been impressive and i believe he could be a squad player for us going forward.  Kalas, whilst he'll be a good player i don't think he'll be good enough for Chelsea.
 
There are four that i've got my eye on that i believe if handled correctly and if they work their asses off could become Chelsea players.
 
Boga - I believe he is the most exciting prospect.  His skill level is out of this world.  Hopefully he grows a little but i doubt there are many better players than him in the world at his age (just turned 18)
 
Solanke - Looks like a future star.  Seems to have all the qualities you want from a centre forward, scores goals for fun and has great physique for his age (will turn 18 start of next season)
 
Christensen - Needs to fill out physically but i can see him being the "cultured" centre back next to a dominant Centre back (Zouma).  Still only 18, but appears to have the pace, technique and IQ to be a star.
 
Rubens Loftus Cheek - I've heard mumblings of him not being motivated or not trying that hard but if he puts it altogether he could be dominant.  Jose must absolutely love his physique, he's a monster.  If he can work on his technique we could be looking at a Matic or Toure clone.  Just turned 19, really excited about him as a prospect.
 
I believe to make it here you need to have either world class skills (Boga) or be physically out of this world (RLC).  These four seem to have combinations of both for their postions.  Izzy Brown could well join them (he just turned 18!) but i feel he needs to cement a position, maybe further back as a box to box midfielder.  

Great post.  I agree with pretty much everything you say.  
 
A lot of times teams will gang up on Hazard on the left and leave Willian one on on on the opposite side, but Willian not being a natural winger doesn't take advantage of this as much as he should.  I don't know much about Cuadrado but he seems better at taking people on and i think he would cause havoc in these 1 on 1 situations.
 
I've got to say when it comes to De Bruyne there are so many people that rate him that maybe i have to do a bit more analysis and reconsider my stance.  Personally i think he is not good enough to be a starter for Chelsea.  The main reason for this view is that with the way that Chelsea play and the way other teams set up against us i believe his style of football won't translate as much.
 
He won't get any space here, he will have to be able to dribble out of tight spaces and his close control has to be top notch.  I saw the highlights the other day against Bayern and he did great, demonstrating good decision making on the break and amazing finishing.  His passing and crossing seems very good.  However i also think of that extremely high line that Bayern play with and how he excelled in space.  How often do Chelsea get that type of space to play in -  hardly ever.  On top of that i think his workrate is not that great and with the rumours of problems with Courtois i think it was the right choice to let him go.
 
Again i haven't watched him a great deal and may be well off.  I just think that for the way Jose wants to play he just isn't a great fit and there are enough players of comparable quality but different characteristics that suit the way we play more, that we shouldn't regret selling him. 

Can i just say that the quality of posting in this thread in the last 24 hours has been very good, really informative and opinions backed up by good reasoning.
 
Back in 2010 Benfica had a great team full of quality attacking players, Di maria, Aimar, Cardozo, Saviola, Coentrao (full back) that played in a diamond formation.  Aimar was at the tip of the diamond with Di maria on the left of that diamond.  It was a delight to watch and got the best out of Dimaria and coentrao (killer left side) especially.  However for all our attacking play the most important player for that team was Ramires playing on the right side of that diamond.  It was he that did all the dirty work and provided the balance and running that let our other players flourish.  He was our firefighter.
 
Sometimes you need these type of players to allow others and the team in general to flourish.  That's why for me Willian will always be important for this Chelsea team.  He may lose his starting spot to Cuadrado now and may back up both the RW and no 10 spots but whenever he plays i just feel more confident that the team will be more solid and will play better as a whole.  I couldn't really say the same about Schurrle.

I don't know too much about Cuadrado but i've seen some of his highlights.
 
I think he would be a definite upgrade on salah.  I think he could actually be a bit of a mix between Schurrle and Willian in that he is more technical than the former and has more end product than the latter.
 
I think the reason why Schurrle is being moved on is that he hasn't improved the technical side of his play.  He still lacks skill and technique compared to the others.  People say he will improve but at his age you don't improve the technical side of your game that much and it lets him down.  Also his best position i think is on the left but Hazard has got that position covered.
 
Ramires is not good as a winger, Cuadrado would offer us much more.  
 
The problem i see is that there is a real lack of world class wingers and honestly Willian for me might be in the top 10-12 wingers in the world.
 
Obviously we would love any one of Dimaria, Sanchez, Reus, Sterling, Bale, Robben, Ribery but after that who is out there that would improve us.  Not a lot. 
 
By the way, i would love Sissoko, not so much as a winger but he could provide different solutions and would be great to have as a squad player.  Wouldn't mind him playing as a box to box for us when we push Fabregas on to no.10.  I think he's better than Ramires and  Mikel.  He could also play oscars position and provide pace and power, two things i think we sometimes lack . 

I don't know too much about Cuadrado but i've seen some of his highlights.
 
I think he would be a definite upgrade on salah.  I think he could actually be a bit of a mix between Schurrle and Willian in that he is more technical than the former and has more end product than the latter.
 
I think the reason why Schurrle is being moved on is that he hasn't improved the technical side of his play.  He still lacks skill and technique compared to the others.  People say he will improve but at his age you don't improve the technical side of your game that much and it lets him down.  Also his best position i think is on the left but Hazard has got that position covered.
 
Ramires is not good as a winger, Cuadrado would offer us much more.  
 
The problem i see is that there is a real lack of world class wingers and honestly Willian for me might be in the top 10-12 wingers in the world.
 
Obviously we would love any one of Dimaria, Sanchez, Reus, Sterling, Bale, Robben, Ribery but after that who is out there that would improve us.  Not a lot. 
 
By the way, i would love Sissoko, not so much as a winger but he could provide different solutions and would be great to have as a squad player.  Wouldn't mind him playing as a box to box for us when we push Fabregas on to no.10.  I think he's better than Ramires and  Mikel.  He could also play oscars position and provide pace and power, two things i think we sometimes lack . 

Personally i feel Willian is a better dribbler and runner with the ball.
 
 
How often do you see willian pick up the ball deep, change direction suddenly and go on a diagonal run to lose his man.  This is something he does better than Oscar, and as i said after Hazard he is the main trigger to unbalance the opposition.
 
I don't deny he needs to be more involved at the sharp end but i find that in England especially there is an over emphasis on stats.
 
Frank Lampard of two, three years ago had better stats than iniesta but you'd be hard pressed to convince anyone he was better at that stage.
 
N.B  i'm not comparing Oscar or Willian's quality, i'm just saying that their roles are slightly different and that stats sometimes don't equate to performance

Personally i feel Willian is a better dribbler and runner with the ball.
 
 
How often do you see willian pick up the ball deep, change direction suddenly and go on a diagonal run to lose his man.  This is something he does better than Oscar, and as i said after Hazard he is the main trigger to unbalance the opposition.
 
I don't deny he needs to be more involved at the sharp end but i find that in England especially there is an over emphasis on stats.
 
Frank Lampard of two, three years ago had better stats than iniesta but you'd be hard pressed to convince anyone he was better at that stage.
 
N.B  i'm not comparing Oscar or Willian's quality, i'm just saying that their roles are slightly different and that stats sometimes don't equate to performance

For me KDB is the kind of guy that will win you a match, maybe through a pass or a goal.
 
However Willian is the kind of guy that will contribute more to a title winning side.
 
The amount of work and sacrifice that he puts in for the team is exactly why Jose loves him.
 
He stops so many counterattacks, he tracks back relentlessly and he is nearly always involved in the our best moves although maybe he isn't the last guy.
 
If you notice the team seems to have two triggers, as in a piece of play that will unbalance the other team normally through a dribble and the beating of one's direct opponent.  The first trigger is Hazard, the second is Willian.  Willian will often get the ball in midfield and make the initial dribble.  The other team is suddenly unbalanced and has to scramble.  Willian then moves the play along to someone else in space.
 
This is why i often feel like he doesn't get that goal or final assist because he is involved in the first breakdown of the defence.
 
Anyway, for me he is now an integral part of the first 11 and brings a much needed balance to the side. 
 
Trust Jose, KDB is not good enough to be in the starting eleven of a title wining side.

I realise we're Chelsea supporters but objectively it's hard to look at their time in the premiership and say Mikel has been the better player.  Song was a starter for Arsenal and attracted the attention of Barcelona, Mikel never has.  His last two years at Arsenal he was arguably one of the best defensive midfielders in the premiership.
 
I haven't thought about it yet but an interesting exercise would be to see which premiership teams would Mikel start for.  Funnily enough he might start for Arsenal right now...

I realise we're Chelsea supporters but objectively it's hard to look at their time in the premiership and say Mikel has been the better player.  Song was a starter for Arsenal and attracted the attention of Barcelona, Mikel never has.  His last two years at Arsenal he was arguably one of the best defensive midfielders in the premiership.
 
I haven't thought about it yet but an interesting exercise would be to see which premiership teams would Mikel start for.  Funnily enough he might start for Arsenal right now...

There have been various times where Mourinho has brought on Mikel to control a game.  
 
However i have yet to see a game where this actually happens. Normally the team gets worse.
 
I really don't care how long he's been here and the fact that he played in Champions league semis and finals.
 
The fact is that he's not good enough for this Chelsea.
 
We're not going for 3rd place, we're aiming for championships and CL glory.
 
Today he was terrible and it's not the first time.  I really fail to see what he brings.  He's slow, not very technical and for his position he is not tough enough.  You can go on about his tactical awareness and positioning but he seems to be in the wrong position all the time.
 
It took the signing of Matic to really show what Chelsea was missing in that area and his performances put Mikel's to shame.  If Matic gets injured we're screwed
 
I think Chelsea need to move on, sell Mikel and sign a better player.
 
sorry about the rant

There have been various times where Mourinho has brought on Mikel to control a game.  
 
However i have yet to see a game where this actually happens. Normally the team gets worse.
 
I really don't care how long he's been here and the fact that he played in Champions league semis and finals.
 
The fact is that he's not good enough for this Chelsea.
 
We're not going for 3rd place, we're aiming for championships and CL glory.
 
Today he was terrible and it's not the first time.  I really fail to see what he brings.  He's slow, not very technical and for his position he is not tough enough.  You can go on about his tactical awareness and positioning but he seems to be in the wrong position all the time.
 
It took the signing of Matic to really show what Chelsea was missing in that area and his performances put Mikel's to shame.  If Matic gets injured we're screwed
 
I think Chelsea need to move on, sell Mikel and sign a better player.
 
sorry about the rant

On youtube there is now a cesc compilation for the Aston Villa match and i've got to say i was highly impressed.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl583e_TPeM
 
I remember thinking during the match how good his passing was and seeing it again really made me see what Chelsea have been missing all these years.
 
First half was immense, second half was a bit more sloppy but there are two things that i just wanted to highlight.
 
Firstly, the long right-centre to left touchline balls to Azpilicueta (1:55) Hazard twice (2:23 and 2:33) and the beautiful ball to costa on the left corner of the box (5:36).  These are on-a-dime passes that manage to cut out their entire team and generally leave our player 1v1 which i think is one of our main weapons (Hazard).  Probably in the past only Lampard could do this but cesc does it even better and more often.
 
Secondly (1:21), and this one is my favourite, is a ball in the first half to Ivanovic from the centre to the right inviting the serb to push up.  Now many people will look at this pass and say that it isn't that special but i think nowadays it's these kind of balls that can be the difference.  
 
What happens is that there are two villa players ready to block the ball to the right.  Now 99% of players would play the easy ball into Ivanovic's feet but Cesc sees the space and the momentum it can cause and plays the much more difficult lofted pass perfectly so that Ivanovic can run onto it.  There is no control needed, no adjustment and no valuable time wasted.  Where most people pass into feet, cesc will read the game and see where to place the ball to take advantage of space and not lose momentum.  
 
Many teams will park the bus against Chelsea this year and so Chelsea really do need to take advantage of any counter attack situations or any situation where a defence isn't fully settled and this is a perfect illustration.
 
He then repeats this (4:30).  
 
Cesc will misplace passes and he will probably never have the highest pass completion rate.  But it's because he's so good and confident in his passing that he is willing to try passes, long, short and first time that others wouldn't dare and it's these passes that can make a difference in a game.
 
Defensively he is still not fully up to speed and can still improve.  I think this has actually affected Matic's production (although i feel he's been better than many people think).
 
Anyway i'm just so happy with what i'm seeing from Fabregas and as a result Chelsea.  The football has been good, fast paced, fluid and precise, it's just a shame that people (not Chelsea fans) are so blinkered with the whole "Mourinho teams play boring football" that they can't actually appreciate what in my opinion has been some of the best football played this decade.

On youtube there is now a cesc compilation for the Aston Villa match and i've got to say i was highly impressed.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl583e_TPeM
 
I remember thinking during the match how good his passing was and seeing it again really made me see what Chelsea have been missing all these years.
 
First half was immense, second half was a bit more sloppy but there are two things that i just wanted to highlight.
 
Firstly, the long right-centre to left touchline balls to Azpilicueta (1:55) Hazard twice (2:23 and 2:33) and the beautiful ball to costa on the left corner of the box (5:36).  These are on-a-dime passes that manage to cut out their entire team and generally leave our player 1v1 which i think is one of our main weapons (Hazard).  Probably in the past only Lampard could do this but cesc does it even better and more often.
 
Secondly (1:21), and this one is my favourite, is a ball in the first half to Ivanovic from the centre to the right inviting the serb to push up.  Now many people will look at this pass and say that it isn't that special but i think nowadays it's these kind of balls that can be the difference.  
 
What happens is that there are two villa players ready to block the ball to the right.  Now 99% of players would play the easy ball into Ivanovic's feet but Cesc sees the space and the momentum it can cause and plays the much more difficult lofted pass perfectly so that Ivanovic can run onto it.  There is no control needed, no adjustment and no valuable time wasted.  Where most people pass into feet, cesc will read the game and see where to place the ball to take advantage of space and not lose momentum.  
 
Many teams will park the bus against Chelsea this year and so Chelsea really do need to take advantage of any counter attack situations or any situation where a defence isn't fully settled and this is a perfect illustration.
 
He then repeats this (4:30).  
 
Cesc will misplace passes and he will probably never have the highest pass completion rate.  But it's because he's so good and confident in his passing that he is willing to try passes, long, short and first time that others wouldn't dare and it's these passes that can make a difference in a game.
 
Defensively he is still not fully up to speed and can still improve.  I think this has actually affected Matic's production (although i feel he's been better than many people think).
 
Anyway i'm just so happy with what i'm seeing from Fabregas and as a result Chelsea.  The football has been good, fast paced, fluid and precise, it's just a shame that people (not Chelsea fans) are so blinkered with the whole "Mourinho teams play boring football" that they can't actually appreciate what in my opinion has been some of the best football played this decade.

On youtube there is now a cesc compilation for the Aston Villa match and i've got to say i was highly impressed.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl583e_TPeM
 
I remember thinking during the match how good his passing was and seeing it again really made me see what Chelsea have been missing all these years.
 
First half was immense, second half was a bit more sloppy but there are two things that i just wanted to highlight.
 
Firstly, the long right-centre to left touchline balls to Azpilicueta (1:55) Hazard twice (2:23 and 2:33) and the beautiful ball to costa on the left corner of the box (5:36).  These are on-a-dime passes that manage to cut out their entire team and generally leave our player 1v1 which i think is one of our main weapons (Hazard).  Probably in the past only Lampard could do this but cesc does it even better and more often.
 
Secondly (1:21), and this one is my favourite, is a ball in the first half to Ivanovic from the centre to the right inviting the serb to push up.  Now many people will look at this pass and say that it isn't that special but i think nowadays it's these kind of balls that can be the difference.  
 
What happens is that there are two villa players ready to block the ball to the right.  Now 99% of players would play the easy ball into Ivanovic's feet but Cesc sees the space and the momentum it can cause and plays the much more difficult lofted pass perfectly so that Ivanovic can run onto it.  There is no control needed, no adjustment and no valuable time wasted.  Where most people pass into feet, cesc will read the game and see where to place the ball to take advantage of space and not lose momentum.  
 
Many teams will park the bus against Chelsea this year and so Chelsea really do need to take advantage of any counter attack situations or any situation where a defence isn't fully settled and this is a perfect illustration.
 
He then repeats this (4:30).  
 
Cesc will misplace passes and he will probably never have the highest pass completion rate.  But it's because he's so good and confident in his passing that he is willing to try passes, long, short and first time that others wouldn't dare and it's these passes that can make a difference in a game.
 
Defensively he is still not fully up to speed and can still improve.  I think this has actually affected Matic's production (although i feel he's been better than many people think).
 
Anyway i'm just so happy with what i'm seeing from Fabregas and as a result Chelsea.  The football has been good, fast paced, fluid and precise, it's just a shame that people (not Chelsea fans) are so blinkered with the whole "Mourinho teams play boring football" that they can't actually appreciate what in my opinion has been some of the best football played this decade.

On youtube there is now a cesc compilation for the Aston Villa match and i've got to say i was highly impressed.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl583e_TPeM
 
I remember thinking during the match how good his passing was and seeing it again really made me see what Chelsea have been missing all these years.
 
First half was immense, second half was a bit more sloppy but there are two things that i just wanted to highlight.
 
Firstly, the long right-centre to left touchline balls to Azpilicueta (1:55) Hazard twice (2:23 and 2:33) and the beautiful ball to costa on the left corner of the box (5:36).  These are on-a-dime passes that manage to cut out their entire team and generally leave our player 1v1 which i think is one of our main weapons (Hazard).  Probably in the past only Lampard could do this but cesc does it even better and more often.
 
Secondly (1:21), and this one is my favourite, is a ball in the first half to Ivanovic from the centre to the right inviting the serb to push up.  Now many people will look at this pass and say that it isn't that special but i think nowadays it's these kind of balls that can be the difference.  
 
What happens is that there are two villa players ready to block the ball to the right.  Now 99% of players would play the easy ball into Ivanovic's feet but Cesc sees the space and the momentum it can cause and plays the much more difficult lofted pass perfectly so that Ivanovic can run onto it.  There is no control needed, no adjustment and no valuable time wasted.  Where most people pass into feet, cesc will read the game and see where to place the ball to take advantage of space and not lose momentum.  
 
Many teams will park the bus against Chelsea this year and so Chelsea really do need to take advantage of any counter attack situations or any situation where a defence isn't fully settled and this is a perfect illustration.
 
He then repeats this (4:30).  
 
Cesc will misplace passes and he will probably never have the highest pass completion rate.  But it's because he's so good and confident in his passing that he is willing to try passes, long, short and first time that others wouldn't dare and it's these passes that can make a difference in a game.
 
Defensively he is still not fully up to speed and can still improve.  I think this has actually affected Matic's production (although i feel he's been better than many people think).
 
Anyway i'm just so happy with what i'm seeing from Fabregas and as a result Chelsea.  The football has been good, fast paced, fluid and precise, it's just a shame that people (not Chelsea fans) are so blinkered with the whole "Mourinho teams play boring football" that they can't actually appreciate what in my opinion has been some of the best football played this decade.

On youtube there is now a cesc compilation for the Aston Villa match and i've got to say i was highly impressed.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl583e_TPeM
 
I remember thinking during the match how good his passing was and seeing it again really made me see what Chelsea have been missing all these years.
 
First half was immense, second half was a bit more sloppy but there are two things that i just wanted to highlight.
 
Firstly, the long right-centre to left touchline balls to Azpilicueta (1:55) Hazard twice (2:23 and 2:33) and the beautiful ball to costa on the left corner of the box (5:36).  These are on-a-dime passes that manage to cut out their entire team and generally leave our player 1v1 which i think is one of our main weapons (Hazard).  Probably in the past only Lampard could do this but cesc does it even better and more often.
 
Secondly (1:21), and this one is my favourite, is a ball in the first half to Ivanovic from the centre to the right inviting the serb to push up.  Now many people will look at this pass and say that it isn't that special but i think nowadays it's these kind of balls that can be the difference.  
 
What happens is that there are two villa players ready to block the ball to the right.  Now 99% of players would play the easy ball into Ivanovic's feet but Cesc sees the space and the momentum it can cause and plays the much more difficult lofted pass perfectly so that Ivanovic can run onto it.  There is no control needed, no adjustment and no valuable time wasted.  Where most people pass into feet, cesc will read the game and see where to place the ball to take advantage of space and not lose momentum.  
 
Many teams will park the bus against Chelsea this year and so Chelsea really do need to take advantage of any counter attack situations or any situation where a defence isn't fully settled and this is a perfect illustration.
 
He then repeats this (4:30).  
 
Cesc will misplace passes and he will probably never have the highest pass completion rate.  But it's because he's so good and confident in his passing that he is willing to try passes, long, short and first time that others wouldn't dare and it's these passes that can make a difference in a game.
 
Defensively he is still not fully up to speed and can still improve.  I think this has actually affected Matic's production (although i feel he's been better than many people think).
 
Anyway i'm just so happy with what i'm seeing from Fabregas and as a result Chelsea.  The football has been good, fast paced, fluid and precise, it's just a shame that people (not Chelsea fans) are so blinkered with the whole "Mourinho teams play boring football" that they can't actually appreciate what in my opinion has been some of the best football played this decade.

As a Chelsea supporter but primarily a Benfica fan i've watched him more than most.
 
For those that are not sure about his quality especially given the strength of the portuguese league i understand your doubts.
 
However Matic was player of the year ahead of Joao Moutinho and it often looked like he was a man amongst boys.
 
In Europe he was very good, often dominating games, and there's a vid showing him keeping the ball and handling the Barca pressure well.
 
To give you a little idea of how he is rated, generally Benfica fans consider him to be top 5 in the world in his position and i agree.  I wouldn't swap him for Khedira let's say (although they play slightly different positions) 
 
On top of that Matic would probably rank as the BEST player that has played for Benfica performance wise in the last ten years alongside probaby Di Maria.
 
He performed better than Luiz, better than Ramires, better than Witsel and much better than Javi Garcia.
 
For those saying to play Luiz next to him i reckon it makes Luiz redundant.  Matic is already a good passer and covers the ground.  You want someone with energy who is technical, creative and likes to get forward.  I imagine someone like his current partner Enzo Perez to be a good fit.  Someone like Modric would be perfect.  Maybe in the future Willian or Oscar could do the job.  Van Ginkel could be a good partner
 
I have no doubts in my mind he will be a success and he's exactly what Chelsea have been missing in the centre of the park.  I woudn't be surprised if he started against ManU, afterall Jose played sneijder without even a training session at Inter and i reckon Jose sees him as a very important piece for now and the future.

As a Chelsea supporter but primarily a Benfica fan i've watched him more than most.
 
For those that are not sure about his quality especially given the strength of the portuguese league i understand your doubts.
 
However Matic was player of the year ahead of Joao Moutinho and it often looked like he was a man amongst boys.
 
In Europe he was very good, often dominating games, and there's a vid showing him keeping the ball and handling the Barca pressure well.
 
To give you a little idea of how he is rated, generally Benfica fans consider him to be top 5 in the world in his position and i agree.  I wouldn't swap him for Khedira let's say (although they play slightly different positions) 
 
On top of that Matic would probably rank as the BEST player that has played for Benfica performance wise in the last ten years alongside probaby Di Maria.
 
He performed better than Luiz, better than Ramires, better than Witsel and much better than Javi Garcia.
 
For those saying to play Luiz next to him i reckon it makes Luiz redundant.  Matic is already a good passer and covers the ground.  You want someone with energy who is technical, creative and likes to get forward.  I imagine someone like his current partner Enzo Perez to be a good fit.  Someone like Modric would be perfect.  Maybe in the future Willian or Oscar could do the job.  Van Ginkel could be a good partner
 
I have no doubts in my mind he will be a success and he's exactly what Chelsea have been missing in the centre of the park.  I woudn't be surprised if he started against ManU, afterall Jose played sneijder without even a training session at Inter and i reckon Jose sees him as a very important piece for now and the future.

As a Benfica fan, devastated.  
 
The Benfica forums are in a state of disbelief, anger and depression.  If you want to see what a great deal Chelsea got just go on to the forums.  Everybody's saying daylight robbery.
 
The thing is the Matic-Perez partnership is so central to how we play, allowing our wingers to bomb forward and it let's us play two attackers. 
 
Perez has been superb recently but there is no one to replace Matic.  All we have is limited destroyer types ala Javi Garcia which would probably mean we have to switch to 4-3-3. It's just a pity because Benfica fans felt that once injury free and if our coach stopped tinkering we were on the verge of becoming a special side.  
 
This will set us back big time and i think we may not win anything this year.
 
Having said that as a fan of Chelsea also i'm excited to see what he can do here.

The thing is nowadays to be a top team i believe you need all your players to be technical especially in centre midfield. 
 
I believe that Javi Garcia, although a good player in Portugal, will never be in a starting eleven for a top team, he's just too limited.
 
That's where Matic is different.  He provided the same defensive coverage but with the ability to hold on to the ball under pressure, play his way out of trouble (often through dribbling) and he was able to spray passes as well as work tight triangles with others, things Javi is not good at.
 
Before Benfica were playing a 4-3-3 with Garcia, Witsel and Aimar in the centre.  What we saw last year was that Matic was so good that he effectively did the job of both Witsel and Garcia forming a great partnership with Enzo Perez and allowing Benfica to play 4-4-2 or 4-2-4.
 
Now i'm not advocating a 4-4-2, especially since Mourinho is not a fan, but some truly great midfields have 2 centre mids like Keane-Scholes and Vieira-Petit.
 
I love Ramires workrate and i believe with Matic Chelsea could press really high up the pitch and win the ball back quickly which is what Mourinho wants.  However i can't help but think that Ramires let's the side down sometmes with his passing and with someone more gifted technically alongside Matic the Chelsea midfiled could be immense.
 
If Busquets didn't exist i reckon Barcelona would choose Matic in that position.  That's how highly i rate him.

As a Chelsea supporter but primarily a Benfica fan i've watched him more than most.
 
For those that are not sure about his quality especially given the strength of the portuguese league i understand your doubts.
 
However Matic was player of the year ahead of Joao Moutinho and it often looked like he was a man amongst boys.
 
In Europe he was very good, often dominating games, and there's a vid showing him keeping the ball and handling the Barca pressure well.
 
To give you a little idea of how he is rated, generally Benfica fans consider him to be top 5 in the world in his position and i agree.  I wouldn't swap him for Khedira let's say (although they play slightly different positions) 
 
On top of that Matic would probably rank as the BEST player that has played for Benfica performance wise in the last ten years alongside probaby Di Maria.
 
He performed better than Luiz, better than Ramires, better than Witsel and much better than Javi Garcia.
 
For those saying to play Luiz next to him i reckon it makes Luiz redundant.  Matic is already a good passer and covers the ground.  You want someone with energy who is technical, creative and likes to get forward.  I imagine someone like his current partner Enzo Perez to be a good fit.  Someone like Modric would be perfect.  Maybe in the future Willian or Oscar could do the job.  Van Ginkel could be a good partner
 
I have no doubts in my mind he will be a success and he's exactly what Chelsea have been missing in the centre of the park.  I woudn't be surprised if he started against ManU, afterall Jose played sneijder without even a training session at Inter and i reckon Jose sees him as a very important piece for now and the future.