Bombay Blues

Yeah, I don't see it happening either. Aguero preferred, surely. Dzeko, in any case, is more likely to move to Old Trafford during this window or the next, by the way.

Good shout. Agree with every bit. And why can't we please see Kakuta get a few minutes of playing time here and there (in the Premiership). He may be raw, but you've got to go with instinct. He showed promise. Similarly, I'd like to see Malouda being used more as a sub, and not starting. He just faded away in the game against WHU. And we must focus more on Sturridge and Borini, ahead of Kalou as our third forward - atleast till either Suarez/Aguero/somebody else joins the ranks (fingers crossed).

I know we're not going to start with the following line-up, but I'd rather see: ------------------------------Cech------------------------------ ------Ivanovic-----------Alex-----Terry-----------A.Cole------ ------------------------------Mikel------------------------------ ----------------Lampard--------------Zhirkov------------------ -----------------------------Kakuta----------------------------- ----------------Drogba----------------Anelka------------------ Substitutes: Hilario, Joe Cole, Sturridge, Carvalho, Ballack, Deco, Belletti * Could swap Alex for Carvalho, and if Anelka isn't playing, then I'd rather have a Christmas tree formation with Drogba upfront. And I'm pretty sure ^ this is never gonna happen. Sadly it doesn't look like we're gonna see Kakuta or Zhirkov starting anytime soon.

Lampard, for me. There aren't too many players out there who'd convert ALL those penalty-retakes, and be able to beat (supposedly) England's top goalkeeper all three times. In the midfield, he was decent. Certainly, fared better than Ballack and Malouda. I thought Joe was just about okay. He's getting there, though. But some of the swipes he took at goal today were ghastly. Cech and Bran 'The Man' Ivan - terrific. The latter has been very consistent this season. Should be our first-choice RB, even when Bosingwa returns. Amongst the substitutes: Mikel seemed solid in his position. I think I'm the only one wasn't really impressed with Sturridge in this game, but yes, he did win us a point and looked more threatening than Drogba - who had an off day. This lad's one for the future, though. Zhirkov had some fine moments, and I really hope he gets to play a lot more. Would certainly fare better than some of our current midfielders (on their current form).

Yeah, his attitude issues are well known. In fact, recently I'd read he as much as went on to say that he'd always been a fan of AC Milan, and not Internazionale. But all things said, he's a good striker. Good long-range shots, takes good free-kicks, and he's younger than a lot of our targets. Wouldn't mind having him in the fold, lest he guarantees that he doesn't join and tell us he'd secretly supported ManUre.

Sure. Let's swap our frontline defender for a third/fourth choice forward. That too after all the rumours about Aguero having agreed to a deal.

^ That's my line-up, as well. It's true that neither Joey, nor Deco have impressed at the tip of the diamond, but Joey's a better choice to start with, IMHO. And Malouda must be preferred over Ballack, please.

I, for one, am not a fan of replacing Cech with Green. Green isn't nearly as good as him, even on Cech's current form. Hope this stays a rumour.

Another right-back? Low on the priority list, I'd imagine. But then again, I suppose it's to prepare for Belletti and Ferreira's imminent departure in a couple of years. Second that.

It would've been a great opportunity to play Sturridge, Kalou and Alex in this inconsequential game...although, after two losses, we should win this to regain confidence. All three are injured, anyway. JT (knee) is out as well. And I think, ahead of a busy next week in the BPL, we must rest Anelka, Drogba, Ivanovic and Ashley Cole. Borini isn't part of our CL squad, so he's out. I'm hoping Kakuta, Bruma, Zhirkov, Matic, Ferreira, Joey and Deco are used. And, Ballack's injured again?

Yeah, Ashley Cole is fit and will play. Alex, Kalou aren't available though. IMHO, we should play as follows: -------------Cech---------------- Ivanovic-Carvalho-Terry-Ashley ------------Essien---------------- ----Lampard-------Malouda----- --------------Joey---------------- -----Drogba---------Anelka------

I don't think we were ever buying him for this season, anyway. Even if we do pick him up, he won't be playing CL this season. Aguero's our long-term replacement for Droga and Anelka, and our bit of insurance for the next twelve to eighteen months (or so) of the transfer ban that might be re-imposed on us, post-January. Sturridge, Borini, Di Santo might be good, but I do believe Aguero's a few notches above them all. At a fair price, I'd be delighted to see him in a blue shirt. Well, all things said, like the past couple of seasons or so, we're being promised big names for Chelsea - like Ribery and Aguero. Let's just hope we land one of them at least, at a decent price.

Droga was terrific in front of goal, and Terry in the backline. Voted for the latter, though. Honorary mentions: Ashley, Cech and Essien.

Yep, pointless for us. Past his prime, injury-prone, and more importantly, we've good surplus in that department. I do think that Man City would be very interested in him though...of course it doesn't matter to them that they have De Jong and Barry already serving that purpose though.

Can't they have something like they'd tried in Cricket a while ago - wherein each on-field captain gets a certain number of video-replay-appeals in a game? Like for instance, each on-field captain in a football game gets to appeal to the ref for one video-replay per game (or per half, maybe). So, like in the France-Ireland game, if the Irish captain still had his appeal left, he could appeal to the ref for checking if it was handball via replay. I know it's on a different tangent and not exactly the video-tech being discussed, but would this be so bad? Sure, the use of appeals will kill the flow of the game, but I suppose it's only fair to halt the game for about fifteen seconds to get a decision right, so that no one is hard-done. Just a thought.

Come on, it's unfair to compare Kakuta and Aguero, or must I say it's unfair to compare Kakuta to Aguero. Yeah, they're both young and lively on the pitch, but Kakuta's just hatched...Aguero, as someone pointed out, is an established name. I'd like for us to go for Aguero (at a fair price though which seems unlikely), because he's the kind of player we need at the tip of the diamond right now.

Essien, closely followed by Malouda, Ashley Cole and Alex.

Glad he got a good 30 minutes or so, to play. He's fast, got brilliant touches, and seemed well worth the wait. I don't think we'll see a lot more of him this season though...don't think Ancelotti's going to rush him in. But all in all, very exciting.

Positive reports about signing him thus far, but today the Sun (not the greatest source, I know) reports that Inter are in for Aguero as well. Athletico officials say Chelsea are ahead in the race, though.

1. ManU 2. Liverpool 3. Spurs

There was a bit of a suggestion floating around that clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United should try testing Liverpool's resolve (especially if they get knocked out of CL early and seeing how bad they're in debt) by bidding for Torres. Benitez too touched upon that yesterday, saying he'd quit if the club sold off Torres without his consent. We all know though that nothing like that is gonna happen, not that we'd want it either. I agree. Besides, Bosingwa (once fit) and Bran 'The Man' Ivan are good enough at Right-back. We don't need any new defenders, anyway.

The Daily Star is again linking us with David Villa of Valencia, and Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid, for a combined 50m. Pirlo's name also doing the rounds again. Although, all three seem unlikely to me. Aguero seems a possibility though.

I do think, personally, that we should buy players in January. You never know what (final) decision the FA takes about the ban next year. Worst-case scenario - we are restricted from being active next summer. And to cover up for that, we should buy in Jan. And even though, someone like Aguero would be cup-tied, I think Ancelotti might consider buying him, especially if Atletico Madrid get knocked out of CL. Perhaps, just to have him around for next year, looking long-term, in case the ban gets reinstated. Amongst the others that are rumoured - Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow) - For once, a player WE want has openly admitted he'd love coming to the Bridge and is a fan of the Blues. Would make for a good long-term replacement for Lampard. Marek Hamsik (Napoli) - Another great option, but I don't think we'd buy him. Ribery (Bayern Munich) - Would be expensive like Aguero, and I don't think he really wants to come to Chelsea. David Villa (Valencia) - Another one who doesn't think he'd fit in at CFC. Says he'd rather prefer Man United. And although age isn't on his side, he'd be a great buy. Let's just hope we buy somebody worthwhile...and well, seeing as Roman Abramovich made a fortune this year selling Platinum in some corner of the world, we'd have the funds too.