Eggy McMuffin

He's absolutely insane and a long way from being worth the insanity. I'd rather keep who we have and let someone else deal with him.

Everyone's favourite member of the twitterati Tancredi Palmeri is saying that we've made an approach for Kevin Prince Boateng worth around €15m. Which is interesting. http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2013/6/8/4407982/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-2013-kevin-prince-boateng We Aint Got No History is focussing on him injuring Ballack 3 years ago, but as a player he's very good and my favourite Milan player at least. Industrious, fast, hard working and he's got the technique to back it all up, but whether there's anything in this, I doubt it. Also, I have literally no idea where he'd play. He's basically played everywhere from central midfield to striker and every position in between, so it'd be interesting to see what he'd come in to do. I still don't think it will happen, mind.

The thing is, Romeu looked poor and out of place before his latest injury and his latest injury wasn't exactly a minor one. There are big, big doubts over him. The same goes with Essien, he looked very poor for us before his loan to Madrid and was a bit part player for them, mainly used at right back in emergencies. There are massive doubts over both. I too would like an Oscar and De Rossi midfield, but I don't think that we should get rid of Mikel. An Oscar and De Rossi midfield with Mikel and Ramires/Lampard to come in is a hell of a lot stronger than if it was Romeu and Essien to come in. Oscar and De Rossi there is experimental, De Rossi might not adapt to the league straight away and Oscar might need some time to learn his positioning defensively and deal with the kicks he'll get as teams try to bully him. It's too much of a risk to sell Mikel and only bring in one holder, no matter this board's collective feelings towards Mikel.

Who would you get in to replace him at that price, though? If we sell him, we don't just need one, we need two holding midfielders. I can't see anyone we could sign for £10m who'd be a backup and an improvement on Mikel.

I'm not sure if I agree with the first part, it definitely sounds like revisionism to me. Making it seem that it was more your choice than anyone else's. I'm just not convinced about your version of events, you're free to stick to it and no doubt I can't and I'm not trying to sway you, I'm just not sure if it's wholly accurate. I think you definitely have the better squad than us and it's up to us to make a few signings to change that right now. Although I would say that our squad is younger has more room to improve than yours. Also, I kind of agree that Fernandinho is better than Ramires in certain respects, but it depends on your definition of better and what you value in a footballer to say whether he's better overall. Fernandinho is stronger defensively and a better passer, he's nowhere near as fast as Ramires and can't compete when it comes to forward runs, but everyone can agree that he's aa massive improvement over Barry.

He tried to predict which side the player was going and moved too early. It's really, really hard to change direction quickly enough. It's a poor decision to move early, but most goalkeepers do it.

Fair enough and searching based on a few of the terms used does seem that other more reputable sources agree that his agent demanded about £6m, but none that I've found so far seem to say that it was a late decision, in fact what I've read gave the impression that he made that clear early on. Which makes parts of your interpretation seem far fetched, but who am I to criticise. I just think there's a bit too much spin in how you've put it to make City seem better (and which self respecting fan isn't guilty of this at times). Not sure about RVP either, but I won't waste your time by asking for sources again, just thought I'd give you my reservations about your story is all.

How come I've not read any of this anywhere and the only place I've heard it is from you? I would say that I'm not doubting you, but that's exactly what I'm doing. I'd just like a couple of sources to back it up before I take it as fact.

I'm not a massive fan of the idea to sell him. If we do, we'd need to bring in two holding midfielders. The thing is, we have no one similar to Mikel (I consider Romeu's Chelsea career almost over unless there's a miracle) and it's pretty much known that we could do with someone to improve on him at the club, but if we then sell Mikel, we'd have to replace him as well. Unless we get in a younger player (along the lines of Strootman, but not necessarily him) and then a more experienced one (along the lines of De Rossi or Khedira, but not necessarily them), I can agree with the idea, but it doesn't seem the most sensible course of action. I know he's a hate figure on here, so I expect most here will disagree, but he's extremely useful and selling him means buying two.

He's box-to-box apparently. Similar to how De Bruyne plays in central midfield is what I'm lead to believe, but I haven't seen him first hand (other than last night) so I'm just basing it on other peoples' reviews of him. I'm guessing the plan is to buy him cheap, loan him out and see how he develops.

As much as we all love Cech and how amazing he's been for the club, I kind of agree. At least from footballing and financial perspectives. We have on our hands a 21 year old who is already comparable to Cech and within a year or two I believe will be better. Financially all the top clubs would want either goalkeeper and we could get anywhere from £20m to £30m depending on which one we sell and which clubs are interested. The footballing downside is whether Courtois can handle the extra physical pressure he'll face in the Premiership. He's a lot better than De Gea at this there's no doubt, and at his ridiculous height he shouldn't have too much issue, but it may take a season for him to get used to that. It's a tough decision and as Stim says above, we will probably end up with people moaning whichever way we go about it. Not to mention how difficult it is to let someone like Cech go from an emotional perspective. It's a tough decision, but personally I think it's one we have to make and we have to let Courtois take over from Cech, not this season, but in a year's time. Cech will no doubt end up at Barcelona/Arsenal/PSG/Monaco or whoever else and will have a good few years in him, but Courtois will have more and I believe that he'll be the better goalkeeper in that time.

I never said anchor man, I said defensive minded box-to-box midfielder. He's noticeably more defensive than Ramires and the Makelele comment was purely based on why his performances don't get much recognition. Vidal can't be bought and I'm not convinced Marchisio can be either, despite the random links we've had. I don't watch the Brazilian league enough to comment on Paulinho's ability.

For a defensive minded box-to-box midfielder you're complaining about his goalscoring record? Defensive midfielders rarely get plaudits for their performances (Makelele syndrome), but he has certainly been very good in any games I've seen him in. I haven't seen all of them, but he has everything you could want for a player of his position, Shakhtar weren't in a position where they needed to sell and he had a very high buy out clause. He's a good signing for them and a solid upgrade on Barry. The money is high, but there aren't too many similar players available right now.

Lewandowski has his heart set on Bayern unfortunately, so it's not so much a question of that. I think Lewandowski would fit better, but Cavani is probably the better player. I have no idea how likely it is and I don't believe that anyone else does, either.

He also delivered those performances in the Champions' League.

Oscar can and has played deeper and personally I think that many of his attributes suit him to that role, but this is all a matter of speculation until we see him played there regularly. The reasons I think he's suited there are to do with how he creates chances, it's all about short passes and moving into space, rather than more incisive direct ones. He doesn't really commit players too often and he works very hard defensively and it's a part of his game which very much underrated. He's strong as well, but it's his ability to keep the ball moving and keep finding space and just work the ball that can be easily translated into a deeper role and to some extent are made easier there. It would mean he'd have to work on his positioning and strength and he'd have to put up with some robust challenges (look at the City friendly), but pair him with a strong defensive presence and he'll be fine(at the moment Mikel is fine, but ideally bringing someone in like Khedira, De Rossi or whoever else we may be linked to). He's faster than your average central midfielder, has the intelligence to time his runs forward and isn't afraid to shoot from range if the opportunity presents itself. For me he has all the attributes to be brilliant in that role, and he's much better there than he is out wide. He does have all the attributes to play the number 10 role and it is where he plays for the national team, but he has Mata in his way here.

Fernandinho is a significant upgrade on Gareth Barry. Navas is a significant upgrade on Milner. They have a slightly improved first team (as Milner didn't play all the time), but a much improved squad with these signings. It's very much a concern.

My point is that different options are necessary in a squad so you can change things tactically, that's the point of signing someone different. Just because Lukaku scored a lot for West Brom, doesn't mean he'll score a lot here. For an easy example of that, look at Ba. We need to have the right mix of players who fit in with the style of football we're going to be playing and are best suited to playing. If Jovetic is a better fit than Lukaku, the difference in goals scored in their respective leagues (baring in mind that it's harder to score in Italy) doesn't mean that much. You need more than stats to pick signings, just looking at Liverpool shows that. They signed the player who created the most chances in the league (Downing) purely based on stats. Looking at one stat (even if it is goals scored) is even worse.

He may not describe it to the players in terms of the numbers, the numbers are imperfect approximation to describe something very complex and changeable. It's the best we have, though. Also, when we have a breakaway, formation matters for nothing, it's about moving into the best space to score a goal in that moment and is less a coaching thing than it is a natural instinct thing. The numbers help us describe roughly where each player is starting from and will move back to. Players roam and move depending on situations and certain instructions can change (for example Giggs playing left, but tucking in to the centre when they lost the ball against us when we played the diamond) that in certain situations. It's imperfect, but it's the best way we as fans and analysts of football can describe it.

So you see no difference at all between Jovetic and Lukaku other than their goal output? Nothing? They are almost identical players except Lukaku scores more? Are you sure?

That lack of engine also applies to the 4-3-3, where before he'd normally run up and down the pitch non-stop, now he can't. If we are to go to a 4-3-3 with the players we have, our first choice would more likely be Mikel, Ramires and Oscar. Mikel is more necessary in a 4-3-3 and he doesn't have to attack to the same amount. Ramires doesn't work as the defensive player, he isn't particularly good at it and his positioning is terrible there. Not to mention Ramires' attacking instincts have to either be curbed or we get exposed. Same with Luiz not being able to play the holding role there. I still prefer the 4-2-3-1, but the central midfield pairing is our weakness and signings have to be made to make it optimal (I assume we're still linked with De Rossi and every other midfielder in the world). Mourinho, though likes to have 2 formations to switch between during games and those two will probably be them.

I hate this ridiculous notion that Jose purely drinks robust and efficient drinks. There are plenty of occasions where he's preferred to drink the lighter more creative drinks like the appletini he often had at Madrid.

Getting wound up by someone who is only here to wind you up is a good way to encourage such behaviour. Harsh words were not necessary and a gentle pointing out the inaccuracies in what he's saying is enough for me. Ozil played about 5 out wide.

No need to be that harsh, he may not have watched too much Spanish football. There have been games where what he said is true, but they were few and far between and if that's all he's seen, then that may be his impression. He's wrong, but that alone doesn't make someone clueless. No need to get personal about it.

Not really, no. Mourinho more often than not played a 4-2-3-1 and Modric played most of his games from deep, the pivot as its name seems to be nowadays. Ozil was behind the striker. Also, Ozil is taller, but Mata works harder and is more intelligent with his use of the ball (a reason he liked Alonso). I don't get where your impression of the Madrid team comes from.