Celery1989

What does Ferdinand's ability as a Footballer have to do with any of this?

Great question. I don't think we'll have that much of an issue for most League games, but we won't fill it for early rounds of the Cups unless it's a big opponent. European group and early round League Cup games in particular would be tricky being on weeknights. Very valid counterpoint, and of course it makes perfect economic logic that the new ground would pay for itself. But look how far Arsenal, who needed at least 6 years to pay off their debts, have fallen since they moved to the Emirates? And since paying off the debts, and spending money on some big signings, have they challenged for the title even once? No. I know there is the Wenger factor there as well but there's a decent chance that we could be hamstrung financially for many years and allow other clubs to get ahead of us in the pecking order in the same way.

This is controversial and perhaps I'm overly dejected about the current state of the Club, Antonio Conte's future etc...But I'm genuinely beginning to wonder whether there is any real sense in building this new stadium. Obviously, CFC would make more matchday revenue from ticket sales, megastore purchases etc, but that's becoming less relevant season after season given the gargantuan tv deals and corporate sponsorships which the clubs receive. Also, I'm beginning to wonder if the Club's relative frugality in the transfer market these days is directly linked to the future financing of the new stadium. It seems like Abramovich's plans for the stadium are very expensive and as a result we can no longer compete for the elite players in the market; We are clearly falling behind Man United and Man City in this sense, and I worry that what happened to Arsenal from 2006-2012 could easily happen to us if there were large debts which would need to be repaid. Lastly, as a current Season Ticket Holder, I think spending 3 seasons at Wembley/The London Stadium would be truly awful in so manys ways and I fear that our core, matchgoing support would diminish at a faster rate than it currently is at the moment. As I say, perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic in light of the current situation at the club, but I just don't see the new stadium making a lot of sense.

Great point. There seems to be a 'Happy Go Lucky' mentality amongst many within the older generation ie. those that were there when were sh*t. In fairness I can understand this, they would never have dreamed of seeing anything approaching the success that Roman Abramovich has brought to to Chelsea. They've seen us win the lot and anything on top is a bonus. At the same time though, Abramovich/The Board's management style is preventing us from competing consistently at the top level and as fans we have to be critical of this. I can appreciate that, in the supposed age of FFP, we don't have the same level of resources as Man United and Man City. But we can certainly compete if our money is spent more efficiently through a more considered, coherent long-term strategy. This would actually allow a manager to implement his philosophy of Football and then develop the first team squad over a sustained period of time without the perpetual fear of being sacked if there is a downturn in results. Finally - For the record, I've been a Chelsea fan since the mid 90's when I was a small child growing up in SW6. I am truly grateful for everything Roman Abramovich has brought to Chelsea and I hope no one thinks otherwise. But at the same time I am genuinely worried about the long term future of this club, particularly with the new stadium move on the horizon, and feel that the way in which it is managed could bring us into severe trouble.

At this point he just looks like someone who is athletically very gifted but has no real footballing ability of any kind.

Typical Chelsea. City went for Mendy and Silva, and of course both are excellent.

I haven't been on here in a while but after tonight and what I'm certain is coming I feel the need to vent about the Board. There's a clear trend that has occurred at this club during the Abramovich era. It happened with Ancelotti, Mourinho (second time in partic) and now it's happening with Conte - Win the League, then instead of trying to build on that by acquiring the best players the Board rest on their laurels and waste money on average squad fillers to appease the manager. As a result, the pre-existing players get complacent, things go stale the following season, and after some bad results the Club lurches into crisis once again. Ultimately the manager is sacked, someone else comes in, and the process begins once again. Why can't they ever learn? Can they really not spot this trend? This culture of short-termism is baffling, and I haven't even got onto the issue of the Academy. Perhaps Roman Abramovich prefers to run all of his operations in this way. To his credit Sir Alex Ferguson would always look to make a big signing or two after winning the title, and as a result he was able to build a dynasty and win 13 of them all in all. I'm sure what I'm saying isn't news to anyone but I really worry about the future of the club. We could quite easily miss out on the top 4 this season, which in the context of Courtois and Hazard's respective contracts could be a disaster.

I've been much more patient with this bloke than most but I've had it with him tonight. That was one of the most appalling performances I've ever seen by any Chelsea player. He lost the ball virtually every time he got it, he was so lackadaisical that quite frankly it was unprofessional. It's a shame that he didn't get a straight red as he'd be suspended 3 games rather than one. At this point I'd rather Drinkwater/Luiz/Barkley or even Ampadu in midfield. The Bakayoko experiment should be shelved until next season, or pehaps he needs to be sold on/loaned out. He is far too much of a liability, his lack of focus has directly catalysed two very damaging defeats.

This is Chelsea Football Club for you. Unless the Board stop acting purely in the short term we will continue to oscillate between triumph and crisis, changing manager every couple of seasons.

This. Conte looked completely defeated out there tonight, don't think he even celebrated the equaliser. Just stood there all night, none of the passion that we've become so accustomed to. Seems like it's all over for him. Really sad to see.

Despite Barkley's injuries and lack of progress over the last season or two, his potential is undoubted and I think for £15m it's worth a punt. Given that he would have cost us £35m in the Summer this is an excellent deal, financially speaking at least. The pressure is on though; he's 24 I believe and therefore not exactly 'young' in footballing terms any more, he'll need to hit the ground running. I would have thought Conte will play him in Bakayoko's or Fabregas' role in the 3-5-2 system, depending on how far forward he wants Barkley. I'm not sure he has the defensive discipline to play a DM role so it would seem logical that he'd be the alternative to Fabregas, providing a key link between midfield and attack. I suppose he could play wide in the front 3 of a 3-4-3 but I don't think his attributes fit those roles particularly well. Really not sure how this gamble will go. He adds good depth to the squad at the very least, but at this point I don't see how he improves the first team. Lastly, I fear that he might end up blocking RLC's path into the first team squad. I know RLC hasn't really shone at Palace despite a good start, but I am a fan of his abilities and I don't think he's inferior to Barkley at all. Maybe this could give RLC the kick he needs to get him performing more effectively, but at the moment it looks like we might have too many players in midfield positions heading into next season.

On the opening day of the 2014-2015 season Kevin De Bruyne started and was arguably our best player on the day in win against Hull. For some reason it all went sour from there with Mourinho, and granted he was poor against Swindon and in another League Cup game, Sunderland I believe. That said, I followed him closely on loan and knew how much talent he had. I honestly think any other manager in world football than Mourinho, who can't be bothered with young players and who invariably favours industry over skill, would have given KDB enough time to prove himself. On a side note though, Salah never showed much of anything for us and, whilst he played well at Rome, I don't think anyone could really have foreseen him developing so much this quickly since.

A frustrating and underwhelming day, especially given how well we have done against Arsenal at home in recent seasons. We just couldn't find any real fluency in our game, several players weren't 'at it', so to speak. Credit to Arsenal though, for once Wenger decide to apply some pragmatism to his team selection and formation, and as a result they were able to stifle many of our attacks. To be fair they created more than we did as well. A draw isn't terrible but it does feel disappointing. Hopefully we can bounce back against Stoke which will be a tricky one too.

Really excited to see how Bakayoko develops, his potential is huge. We've lacked drive from midfield for years which he brings along with much more. Bakayoko is a much better fit in a 2 man midfield than Matic, and he looks to be superior in all facets, technical and physical. He and Kante should complement each other very well. One other thing I've noticed about Bakayoko already is that he plays very intelligently and tactically without the ball; He seems to be in the right position a lot of the time to intercept. Also he doesn't just automatically pass it sideways like many average CM's that you see in the PL. Early days of course but so long as we keep him fit I can see Bakayoko becoming a very good player for us.

This can't be write as Bournemouth are on zero points as well. Fake news from Sky Sports.

I think we'll be in the mix for the Title but I reckon it will end up in Manchester. It's been a long time since anyone retained the Title, it just seems to get tougher every year to accomplish. My main concern to be honest is Top 4 consolidation, anything above that is a bonus. I'd quite like to go on a run in either the Carabao or FA Cup, but at the same time keen to see the squad players used. Being honest again I think our best chance of winning any silverware is in either of these cups. Going to Wembley again would be good. In terms of Europe, I think it will be difficult to get out of the group but we should be able to. I hope we can get to the Quarters, but I'd expect us to draw one of Barca/Real/Bayern at that point and then bow out. Would like a decent trip!

Palace are the first team in Premier League history to lose all 4 games. They are also the only team in the Football League that have not yet scored. The writing's on the wall for De Boer I think.

We needed another CM and now we have it. I'll be honest I'm neither excited nor too disappointed in this signing either. I think he can do a credible job for us, but I don't think he's more than a slightly above average PL CM. Hope he proves me wrong, nice to have another English player I suppose too.

Never really understood this notion of AOC becoming a CM, he doesn't have enough natural footballing ability to play in that position. I don't see how we gets into the Liverpool team as a CM or even an AM. I do think that he could become a good RWB though, like Moses he's a good athlete with average technical skills, an overall skillset which suits the RWB role well enough. I don't think we've really lost much here, although I guess having an Englishman who could have done an average job in a many positions would have been useful.

Having won 3 European Cups in 4 years, and now being the first team to retain the trophy in the competition's modern format, surely we are looking at one of the great teams? I feel like this Madrid side doesn't get the recognition it deserves. I mean, they've won the European Cup more times than Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, yet some would have you believe that Messi & co. were the greatest team in the history of the game. I suppose that because Real don't ascribe to sime kind of morally superior, abstract 'philosophy', then their achievements are deemed inferior by the overwhelmingly idealistic media. Whatever the case, their record in Europe is utterly phenomenal and I doubt we'll see another team win the competition as frequently in such a short space of time for a while. Finally, I know he's an egotistical c*ck but you have to admire Ronaldo. The man always delivers on the biggest stage.

I swear Arsenal fans have been saying the same thing every Summer for years.

Even our support felt flat IMO, I thought the atmosphere against Tottenham in the Semi Final was much better.

I think Matic does a decent job and gets some unfair criticism at times. But I do feel he is limited in certain ways and a player than we can find an upgrade for. We shoud look to sign a true box-to-box midfielder next to Kante with a superior engine and passing ability to Matic.

The most disappointing aspect of yesterday for me was that the players just weren't up for it, before the game my biggest worry was how motivated they would really be. Arsenal were much better than us in every department and completely deserved their win, but I can't help but feel frustrated by the fact that we are by far the superior team on our day and would surely have won that had the players really wanted it. We've only ever won the Double once in our history and I feel like we've let a great opportunity go. It's still been a great season of course - in truth I feel a bit spoilt to have won the title given what the realistic expectations were back in August - but this does put a downer on things. There's a big summer ahead now and we need to strengthen the squad significantly.

Sky just wanted to milk as much money out of the run-in and were seemingly allowed to do so.