Jonty

I'd take him over Mikel, but that isn't saying much.

Good lord I also got Brenda, this thing has to be rigged.

Real and Barca are the only clubs that could afford him, and Barca are stocked in that position for years to come with their front 3, so really it is only Real we'd have to worry about once they decide they want to upgrade CR7 for a younger player. Although he does seem more down to earth than many other players that talented, and we have more retaining power than Liverpool or Spuds had with Suarez and Bale. I'm kind of on the fence with this one, I think we definitely have 2-3 more years with Hazard, after that it might depend on his relationship with Jose (assuming he's still here) and how long CR7 can maintain his ridiculous form.

The only thing, of which I am certain (100%) is that your days on this forum are numbered.

I think Stones will come to Chelsea because Everton have no history and we have loads of history so there. just kidding.

I read that PSG are only offering 28.5m for him? I'd take him any day for that money, although i'm sure if that is the agreed amount that United would never have sold to us at that price.

My opinion is that the comments about his diet were a bit unprofessional, that being said the FSW's comments about Chelsea fans and his subsequent refusal to apologize for what he'd said upon being appointed Chelsea manager despite being advised by JT to do so, was also grossly unprofessional, and stupid. I don't think his comments were at all sexist though..? I haven't seen anyone else come to that opinion either and you know if there were any sexist undertones the media would firmly seize on that opportunity. Jose could have left out the diet bit, he has endless ammunition in regards to their respective managerial success, but then again I don't really care because the FSW is a w**ker, so f**k it.

Fair enough, although I consider the Starting XI to mean who our first choice XI would be disregarding injuries and suspensions, and I don't think at any point of his Chelsea career would I have considered him to be a part of it. He would have been behind a fit Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard when he joined, Ramires from 2011 onwards too, then Luiz in midfield and finally Matic from the season before last. If not for Essien's extensive injury woes he likely wouldn't have played anywhere near as many games and may even have been sold, however our loss was his gain in that regard. But in terms of making lots of appearances as a result of injury and necessity, clearly he has racked up a lot of them, can't argue with that.

2010...where Essien was injured for more than half the season? 2011...where Lampard was injured for more than 4 months. As for Ramires; Ramires actually made more league appearances than Mikel that season. 2012...Our worst league performance of the Roman era 2013...Made less league appearances than a 35 year old Frank Lampard and Ramires. Mikel was literally the only other player for that position in the entire first team squad other than Oriol Romeu who was injured for the season after 6 games. And even then a defender, David Luiz, was often preferred in his position. 2014...A mere squad player until Matic rendered him entirely unnecessary when he joined in January. Prior to that was still a backup to Luiz who, again, is not even a midfielder. I don't know why people have to go out of their way to manipulate statistics to make Mikel appear more than he is; A player who we expected to develop into a world class player but who never even came close to getting there. If he were putting in performances at another club like he has been since he joined Chelsea, there is no way we would ever be looking at signing him, and those bending over backwards to show how great he is would be firmly in the do-not-sign camp themselves. At best he could perhaps settle at a club like West Brom or Stoke where his significant limitations going forward can be ignored as he would be required to do more defending anyway - but at a club competing for titles he is a waste on the pitch for any job more than parking the bus for the last 10 minutes of a game. And even then there are many, many far more capable and versatile players that could do exactly that - as shown by the fact that not once but twice in the last few years, he's been knocked out of the team by a centre back. I have nothing against the man and I feel like a knob for making repeated posts bringing this topic back to reality, but I just cannot help myself reading some of the ridiculousness posted in this topic.

Another good showing from us, two concerns are the fitness of Costa and Cahill's nose, ideally both will be fit for Sunday but I think Zouma and Remy/Falcao will be able to deputize well if not.

Liverpool have collectively on a few players in the last few years wasted far more than that. But in terms of 1 single flop, I don't think Torres will be bettered for many years, possibly ever.

Well, you've got me there.

Didn't Bosingwa play most of that game at centre back? Fantastic method of judging a players ability that game then. edit: Also that spurs side put 5 past us only two months earlier. So, if I could attempt to summarize your pro's of Mikel's Chelsea career, which only seem to include 2 team results and no actual personal attributes or individual highlights: 1) Played against Barca in a game we won with Bosingwa playing at CB - great indicator of quality 2) Played against Bayern in a game we won with Ryan Bertrand on the left wing and Bosingwa at right back - again, more evidence of Bosingwa being a top draw defender and Bertrand perhaps facing an alternate career as a top 4 winger. Wonderful.

According to transfermarkt it expires at the end of this coming season, yes. Surely a new one in the works soon.

Certainly his future is at CB, I just mean that in the event that Matic is unavailable however we're stocked at CB with JT and Cahill (and possibly Stones), i'd rather play Zouma there instead of Mikel. And in fact Jose did exactly that in numerous games last season.

There was a fair amount of speculation a few weeks ago about who would be our vice captain following the departures of Lamps and Cech in consecutive seasons, and many concluded that Cahill had been given the honor based off our clubs wikipedia page. According to the Chelsea site however, Ivanovic is our new vice captain. Giving our #2 the #2 was my preference and from what i've seen he is a strong, vocal character on the pitch. He is also the captain of his national team (Serbia), so he has plenty of experience. That being said, JT never misses a minute of league action anyway so we're unlikely to be seeing him wearing the armband much. Either way, congrats Brana. http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/07/ivanovic--happy-and-proud.html

I don't remember him being instrumental in the CL semi or final, I remember him doing the job he was assigned. Could plenty of other people have done that job? Well Zouma did the same job in the League Cup final this season without ever even playing in that role before. Frankly if we're getting Stones i'd rather use Zouma as a back up to Matic than Mikel.

I rate Pedro and was advocating us signing him in the Pedro thread, but I don't think he will be capable of the sort of performances Di Maria was putting in at the start of the season, he's one of the top players in the world no question.

To answer both your comments, the point of mine was to point out that all the positives that were able to be pulled out about Mikel's contributions to our squad in Plokoon's post, are applicable to just about everyone else in the team. Ok he can pass the ball with two feet, he is physically robust, he has a decent first touch, he can sometimes keep possession, so what? Shouldn't any professional footballer at this level and on that money be able to do that? Everyone else in the squad seems to be there for a reason above what the minimum expectation of a top class footballer should be able to do. Sure they don't always stack up to what is expected of them, eg. Cuadrado, but you can at least see the reasoning for going after him. The fact that no-one can think of a single thing Mikel can offer that virtually any other player can't shows why he is a wasted squad spot.

Pretty easy draw for us, considering we could have had a group with Italy, Ukraine, Sweden, Poland plus two minnows.

So 1) Slows the tempo of our play and rarely moves the ball forward forward and as we saw against PSG, is liable to complacency on the ball. 2) Is it really any better than anyone elses in the team? 3) Two-footed to what extent? That he can do 5 yard passes with his left? Again, I think everyone in the team can do that, I can even do that. 4) Again, is it really any better than anyone else in the team? Who has a worse touch than Mikel? 5) Doesn't have the ability to create so he moves it on to those who can...pretty much everyone else in the midfield and even our full backs. 6) Not remotely true, often slow to get into position 7) He's playing a position where physicality is one of the most important traits, but he's tiny compared to Matic and even Loftus-Cheek towers over him 8) I remember numerous times last season when we were winning games, Jose would bring on Mikel and then we'd concede and end up drawing. Doesn't really look that great without all the spin on it.

Unfortunate timing on that comment given how PSG's goal came about

If Moses and Falcao turn out to be valuable first team players then we have strengthened our squad far more than we think.

It's the beauty of a match day thread where we aren't winning, you can always expect to find some ridiculous over the top moaning, but you never know quite how they'll parcel it.

'We won the double with a lot of luck' What the f**k have I just entered in to?