Jonty

Fabregas may not be an excellent defender but he's still far better than Mata in that category, I don't think that comparison is fair on Cesc and I wouldn't go so far as to call him a luxury player. He's no more a luxury player than Xavi, Iniesta, Pirlo or Xabi Alonso.

If we give them 40 mil then we've gone bonkers, 40 mil for a centre back that MIGHT turn out to be world class, who would be worth no more than that even if he did turn out to reach his ceiling and maximize his potential. Paying for, or even above, his maximum ceiling/potential is madness. Think of the world class quality we could actually buy with that money in a position we actually need strengthening.

Can't disagree with your point, I would totally understand if Courtois is reinstated into the lineup immediately, but i'd also understand if Begovic is kept on for a few more games, particularly in the absence of more signings providing any sort of increased incentive to the starting XI to perform.

Agree completely. In Zouma we already have arguably the best young CB in the league, while we have Christensen and Kalas who are both very highly rated and could do well if given the chance. And even if we do need to bring in someone else to play next to Zouma in a few years, lets remember that our current starting back 4 of Dave, Terry, Cahill and Ivanovic (considered the best back 4 in the league) cost a combined 23 million pounds.

I wouldn't consider him any better than Cahill, if Cahill was 21 he'd be getting as much hype as Stones in all likelihood.

No its relevant because it shows that it doesn't matter how good squad players play when they come in, the same 11 people a guaranteed a starting spot when available regardless. Which is the exact issue with our squad at the moment.

I'm sure it sends a great message to the rest of the squad when the best player this season so far gets dropped back to the bench while the multiple average players in the starting line-up continue to retain their places.

Begovic hasn't made a single mistake yet and made numerous tremendous saves in both of his appearances so far.

Can't remember exactly, could have been.

From memory Courtois did get dropped for a few games at the start of the year?

Right now John Stones is not one of the worlds best defenders. If we pay 35-40 million for someone that very well may just end up as good as Cahill, then it is a total f**k up. I'm sure Stones will be a good defender, but good defenders can be got around the 10 million mark, in fact its usually the cheapest position on the pitch to fill. Very rarely do English players actually live up to the hype. Last summer Barkley was being mentioned as being touted at the 40 million quid mark and look what he's done in the year since.

I think that considering Courtois's silly red card probably cost us 2 points, and that Begovic has been excellent in the game and a half since, that Begovic has earned the right to continue to start while he's putting in performances better than that of anyone else in the team. I understand that it wasn't entirely Courtois's fault (the sending off), with Willian playing the striker onside and Terry and Cahill not being fully aware of what was happening, but he still didn't need to come out and he really messed up by taking him out inside the box. It would also send a message to some of those that have been floundering so far this season, such as Ivanovic and Fabregas, that no-one is undroppable, not even the goalkeeper which is usually the position on the field that sees the least rotation.

35-40 million for a centre back that could turn out to be average. Jesus christ, we don't even need a centre back as our most pressing upgrade, bring in some depth into midfield. Think of the quality we could get for that sort of money.

I, as most of us do, take compilation videos with a pinch of salt when checking out new signings. But upon watching Cuadrado's youtube highlights I remember commenting that it was the most underwhelming one i'd ever seen, and nearly every highlight was a video of him running in behind a high line, of which we face virtually none in the premier league.

Ferguson had plenty of real crises and came through them stronger, this isn't even a crisis, it's a loss in our hardest game of the season and a draw in a game we probably were going to win if not for Courtois's silly red.

http://www.theshedend.com/topic/27669-cuadrado-chelseas-23/ here you go mate

For me the big difference between the teams was that we looked out of ideas once we got to the edge of City's box. Everyone just tried to pass on the buck to Hazard and hope that he could create something. Ramires and Ivanovic were a total waste on the right wing coming forward aside from that 1 nice dribble Ramires had through 2-3 players on the edge of the box, while whenever the ball came to Ivanovic he'd either cross it right into Kolarov or take a ridiculous shot that was never going to go in. Willian and Fabregas were slightly better but again were incapable of creating anything and deferred to Costa and Hazard. Defensively Fabregas may as well have been a plastic training cone in the first half, although in the second he redeemed himself with a few timely slide tackles. Diego wasn't too bad although he is also still far from his best. The fact that no-one around him was creating anything meant that Kompany and Mangala could smother him all game though so i'm not too worried about his performance. Hazard was decent if not spectacular. While if you compare it to City, Aguero and Silva were constantly moving and creating problems, while Sterling and Navas seemed to be able to breeze by Ivanovic and Dave. I cannot believe how many times Navas was able to get away with doing the same thing (sprinting around the outside of Dave) when it is literally the only thing he does. Willian and Fabregas are more talented players than Sterling and Navas, but they didn't show it yesterday. I think we desperately missed Oscar in place of Ramires too, even Cuadrado played better than Ramires after coming on.

He was great last year but so far this season he has been by a long margin the worst player in the starting line-up. If only we'd held on to Luis who looked very good when he played, now we need to hope that Rahman is as good.

At this rate I wonder if Jose will let him stay on for a while once Tibo comes back.

I've supported pretty much every decision Jose has made since coming back but this all seems very petty and needless. However, I think its also been blown way out of proportion by the media (as always) and its nothing to be too concerned about.

very bored of this now, looking forward to this weekends game after which i'm sure this will all be forgotten about.

I think pre-injury he was better than Mikel without question, but never really got a proper chance after that.

75, haven't really seen any of the pre 1960's ones, they don't really interest me.

Agree on how good Silva is, as for the comparison with Hazard, they are totally different players so very hard to say one is better than the other. Both are better than Sanchez though. If Aguero can stay fit for an entire season then he'd round out my top 3 with Silva and Hazard.

Last year we won at Burnley Year before I think we beat Hull 3-1 in Jose's first game back? With Lamps scoring that 40 yard free kick? Under Robbie we had a flying start so assuming we probably won. So year before that was AVB, I think it was a 0-0 draw at Stoke but not 100%.