venom2011

Debatable. Even now Ronaldo takes roughly 3 times as many shots as him during a season. With a conversion rate that's not too far away from his as well. I think it would be great if we had more possession as a team. Hazard lacks a bit without the ball (in an attacking sense) compared to the likes of Ronaldo and Neymar but is comfortably better with it.

Matic and Fabregas are the real worries. More so because it will effect both the style and quality of our play. When Hazard dipped in the final quarter of last season, Willian was comfortably the best attacking midfielder of the lot. That's what we need from the others. These talents - Willian Oscar Cuadrado must make the step up, and be given every chance to do it. Add Hazard, Traore and Moses and you have 6. 4 will be the main core with Traore and Moses as backup. That is perfect as it is in my opinion. The only way you improve that dynamic is by signing a significantly better player. i.e Bale. And Pedro does not fit that mould. Willian is our 2nd best AM. Oscar has immense potential. A2nd after 6 months it would be ridiculous to be rid of Cuadrado. The timing is just not right. Now a signing to strengthen the deeper midfield area is a different case.

Yes, that Young, Mata, Fellaini, Valencia, Depay and Pedro combination sounds quite deadly. Quadruple for sure.

Supporters with short memories can say what they want to but Torres looked the same when he joined. A striker shorn of some confidence but working hard and making great runs. Quite some way from the striker who eventually left. The difference is being fed by Kalou, Malouda and Sturridge vs Hazard, Cesc, Willian etc. It will be tough but he won't find better conditions to improve himself.

He is a decent option, never complains and looks better when we're extremely tight and low in defensive transitions. I have never rated Mikel, but I could always see his value. The problem is that as you aim higher and higher, it becomes like a decent friend you once knew who never matched your ambitions and eventually you left him behind. Now going from Matic to Mikel is a massive step down. Even using him alongside Matic, as he was last night, it absolutely kills our distribution from the back. I have no problem with keeping either Mikel or Ramires, but keeping both and aiming to mount an attack on all trophies is quite frankly, ridiculous.

Well if you consider our squad the best during the last season we "shouldn't" have lost to anyone. If you consider City's second then they "shouldn't" have lost to anyone but us. Unfortunately that is not how football works. There is also a difference between "a bit of luck" and " a lot of luck".

'We won the double on a lot of luck' Geesus. Did you watch any of our football that season?

How so?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXpe1EtprH0

Speak for yourself mate! :)

Twitter is your best bet. ChelseaHQ links and posts article snippets from all major news outlets. You then decide what's reliable or not.

I understand your concerns but now we have Cuadrado as a real option with an adjustment period under his belt and a preseason to come. We have a fresh Oscar for the first time. A wonderful talent in Traore. Falcao as a replacement for Drogba. Just considering this alone is enough to consider us as having strengthened somewhat. Then you can expect the likes of Costa, Fabregas etc to improve as well as they come into their peak.

How so? I don't see any of our rivals strengthening much as yet. Sterling strengthens an aging City, whose older players you'd expect to regress somewhat to balance it out. And Schneiderlin adds a bit more steel to Utd's core but nothing overwhelming. How much Cech will improve Arsenal is debatable.

Willian is the real sticking point I suppose. I'm on the opposite side - I feel he balances our side very well and we don't need more goals. Although of course I want him to improve. What we need is players to improve the way we play and who can better carry out Jose's philosophy. We have enough goals collectively. I also rate Cuadrado because, as I always do with new players from foreign leagues, I judge them on their skill set as opposed to their production when they're just introduced to the league. Moses and Salah are fine squad fillers for a top side. But they may not be a fit for Jose. As I said, I believe the only side that can touch us right now in that department is Arsenal. Maybe United and City can get closer with some additional signings.

Goalkeepers: Courtois, Begovi?, Blackman Defenders: Terry, Cahill, Zouma, Ivanovi?, Azpilicueta, Luis, (Stones) Midfielders: Mikel, Ramires, Fàbregas, Mati?, RLC Advanced Midfielders: Oscar, Hazard, Willian, Cuadrado, Traoré, *Moses* Forwards: Costa, Rémy, Falcao Possible first XI: Courtois Ivanovi?, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta Fàbregas, Mati? Willian, Oscar/Cuadrado, Hazard Costa Now I've heard quite a few fans express their disappointment at the lack of signings, but looking at that squad and lineup - is their any team in the league to be considered favourites over this lot? There is no better goalkeeping duo than Courtois and Begovic in Europe. There is no better group of defenders in the league and arguably in Europe. There is no better group of attacking midfielders in the league (although Arsenal probably aren't far off). And lastly, there is not a team in the league who wouldn't want our strikers. We aren't seeing the likes of Koke and Bale moving in this window, so is it really wise to strengthen right now? Mourinho waited for Costa - the right signing at the right time. If you sign Torres today, you miss out on Aguero tomorrow. If you sign Mata today, you miss out on Sanchez tomorrow. We've seen these examples over and over in recent years. Jose argued that he wouldn't find better players in the current market than Costa, Fabregas, Matic and Hazard and this is also true for our rivals. With the addition of Stones/DefenderX, Jose finds the squad to be balanced and any further signings would only be in response to outgoing transfers. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/592260/Jose-Mourinho-ambition-secure-defender-deal-Chelsea It is impossible for fans to really know the big picture, but both Oscar and Cuadrado have something to prove and there will be a shootout of sorts. It is quite possible that one or both of Koke and Bale become available next season and I'm sure we'd all like to see the club's name in the hat. So...we're all set to go as favourites (deservedly) once again and are well placed to make big moves at the right times, further down the line; while being mindful of youth integration. Chin up.

Chelsea are leading the race to sign Ghana defender Baba Rahman from Augsburg, sources have told ESPN FC. http://www.espnfc.com/story/2511981/chelsea-leading-race-for-augsburg-star-baba-rahman-sources According to WhoScored he shows the following (statistically): Tackling Very Strong Aerial Duels Strong Dribbling Strong Concentration Strong Ball interception Strong

I don't agree with quite a bit of what you've said. There is evidence both statistically, and aesthetically to the contrary. Turan is an experienced head and most importantly he is a smart player. Someone who would work well with the likes of Hazard and Fabregas. We need some experience right now.

Seeing a picture of him, I initially thought - ridiculous comparison. But after dissecting a few videos I have to say that comparison is spot on. Everything from the way he dribbles to his shooting technique and heavily favouring his left foot.

1. Any wage discussion is purely hypothetical2. That figure is not far off from what Drogba was supposedly earning last season. 3. Considering FFP that wage hit is inconsequential and that is also why we were able to pay Drogba 100k/week. 4. Judge the player and his contribution, not the financial outlay.

Just about every member of the team, bar Cuadrado and James should be dropped. All of their strikers were isolated and had no service. If one of Cuadrado or James did some positive, there was absolutely no backing from the midfield and fullbacks. It's no surprise they only scored 1 goal.Falcao as backup is a good move with zero downside.

You know how much Jose likes his inverted wingers. That is also his normal position but my word the boy is such a natural finisher. Peter Bosz knew exactly what he was doing.

Oscar is not actually great defensively. He just has great work rate and decent positional awareness. But not good enough for the midfield role. With Cesc it's not much better..or worse.. but he dictates the game wonderfully from deeper areas. It will probably be one of Jose's tougher decisions. If Pogba comes, he plays. Pogba alongside Matic is a well balanced combination. When Cesc played in Oscar's position last season, there was a disconnect because you either had two defensive mids behind him or just Matic and a poor passer. But the loss of intensity and pressing was a bigger problem (for me). Jose on the other hand may be less concerned with the way we play and purely pick based on the numbers i.e. Cesc>Oscar.

Forget Romeu. He sounds like he'd give Fabregas a run for his money. Jose must be blind.

Wow. That's impressive. Ake really has come on in leaps and bounds without even really playing senior football.

That is very debatable. We have performed much more effectively as a unit with Oscar in the starting XI.