It_Dont_Mata

Just a public information broadcast for those of you who may not know this already, but the match at home to Real Sociedad will be free to view on Chelsea TV on Tuesday 12th August at 19:45 - the only catch is that you need to register (also free) with the fan club. Here's the link: http://www.chelseafc.com/videos/chelsea-tv-freetoview.html Should be a good chance for those of you who haven't seen much of pre-season or who usually use dodgy streams to see our first home game of the season. Also, Jose is urging fans to arrive at The Bridge early so that they can cheer on to the pitch, one-by-one, the players before they warm up and there are even reductions on refreshments as a sort of 'early-bird special' if you're lucky enough to be going. Can't wait!

Enjoyed the match last night - very watchable. We looked much sharper than we have been and it seems as though our pre-season preparations are doing the job. Fabregas and Hazard made a real difference when they came on. I'm feeling fairly good about the first game now. I hope the Drogba injury actually serves as a bit of a wake-up call to Jose and prompts him to buy another striker as cover. However, I worry that the idea behind Torres starting on the wing so much is about getting his fitness up at the same time as Costa so that we have him fit as a 2nd choice - hope not. Or perhaps Mourinho intends to have Schurrle as a backup striker? I wouldn't be averse to that idea as he certainly looks better after the world cup and he isn't afraid to get a shot in, and it also helps with the midfield selection dilemma if he's playing up-front. I guess we'll see soon enough what Jose thinks... And just for sh*ts and giggles and because, unthinkably, nobody's mentioned it yet on this particular page - Torres out!

A good move for him, Southampton, and if the reports are true about there being a clause for them to sign him permanently at the end of the season, Chelsea too. He'll get game time with them and I don't mind Southampton as a club. He had a good go at it here (more than most of our 'yoots') and did OK, but OK won't cut it at Chelsea. All the best to Ryan!

I think 4-2-3-1 is our natural formation really, but we need to be competent at 4-3-3 for certain games and have that in our locker. 4-2-3-1 works well IF your striker can handle it and looking at Costa so far in pre-season, he can. Courtois (PRM/CL) / Cech (FA/LC/PRM) Dave - Cahill - Terry - Luis Fabregas - Matic Schurrle - Hazard - Willian Costa Subs: Cech, Ivan, Zouma, Mikel, Van Ginkel, Oscar, Drogba

Now that Lukaku has slung his hook, what happened to those rumours about 'Little Pea'...?

Adios Romelu. Go and be a big fish in a small pond, score 15 goals a season at a club that won't ever win anything, except maybe if they get lucky in the League Cup. This kid's attitude was the antithesis of everything Mourinho is trying to instil at Chelsea and is not the sort of mentality expected of truly classy players. There's a fine line between supreme confidence in your ability (aka Drogba, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic) and downright delusions of grandeur (aka Bendtner, Taarabt, Mido). Sadly, Lukaku in his current state falls in to the latter category. He had three decent seasons at Anderlecht, West Brom and Everton, granted, but he also played eight games for us under AVB, scored none, assisted none and sulked his way in to a loan deal rather than try and compete with an obviously impotent Torres. Add to that the fact that he couldn't keep his gob shut and Mourinho has done the best thing for the club in selling him for more than he's worth. His career could now go either way - there are plenty of young attackers who show lots of promise yet fail to deliver or improve. But the one thing I will say is that perhaps Mourinho should have kept quiet about the reasons he was sold, as now he'll be itching to score against us even more so every time we play Everton. Time will tell. If he does do well though and ends up moving to a bigger club, I doubt he'd be first choice if you look at what else the top clubs in Europe already have at their disposal. I'm just glad he didn't end up at Liverpool though!

Anybody know when the full squad will be back?

Shouldn't both he and Courtois be back for pre-season by now? It's getting a little worrying. Even if they can't train at high intensity they should be with the rest of the squad and participating, bonding, showing the media that everything's fine etc... It's been 25 days since Belgium's last match, we're half way through pre-season and there's only 19 days until our first proper game.

Yeah - probably in the second half for about 15 minutes. Can't wait! Looking forward to seeing a bit of Traore too - he stood out for us last pre-season. Overall I think the 'yoots' have performed admirably, particularly Brown, Boga and Zouma. Zouma still needs to learn some composure as he gave away a penalty and also a silly goal so far, but I love the fact that he's looking to score at the other end at corners and he seems to be quite good at it - he could have had a hattrick in the last match! Fits in well with the Chelsea tradition of goalscoring defenders a la Terry, Cahill and Ivanovic. Brown has been very impressive, but needs to be developed carefully as the next few years are pivotal for him. Boga has a very positive and direct style of play and everyone likes to see that. Swift needs to up his game though and Bamford I think needs to bulk up a bit but also stop the unnecessary fouls and also maybe a new haircut as he currently looks a bit 1-Direction, which isn't very imposing. Fabregas looks class as does Luis. Looking forward to the Vitesse game.

According to this article on the 23rd (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10984812/Chelseas-bid-to-sign-Didier-Drogba-puts-Romelu-Lukakus-future-in-doubt.html) Lukaku has been confirmed as home grown by the Premier League. It's all a bit confusing, but good news IF he is and IF he stays and this may well prove a decisive factor in him staying at the club.

I believe that he counts as home grown due to his previous loans and the fact that he still counts as an U21 player this season because of when his birthday was/is.

Add Ramires and Delac to that list. Seriously, what's Delac still doing here?

Definitely feel more optimistic this season about the youth prospects. I have taken out Chelsea TV to watch the pre-season games and a few of the young lads have really impressed me. Boga, Brown & Zouma have stood out big time and Baker, Chalobah, Solanke, Ake, Christiensen and Bamford have been decent. I honestly think that without a full 25-man senior squad being registered for the league this season, Zouma and Boga will get chances to play. Brown is looking excellent, but perhaps a little too young still. Ake and Christiensen are in the squad I think, but probably only as backup I'd imagine, but they may get late run-outs in matches were controlling. Bamford should go on another loan, ideally in the Premiership, but Championship would be fine as he's probably not quite good enough for the Premiership yet. Swift hasn't really shone for me though - I don't think he's at the same level as the other young lads. Jose has said that some of the young lads will be training with the first team this season, and I actually think this is better than loan deals - we had too many last year and these boys need to get used to playing together at Chelsea. The teenagers Andreas Christensen and Nathan Aké will be part of the first-team squad, while Lewis Baker, Izzy Brown and Dominic Solanke will spend the season training with the seniors. Mourinho claimed that he would have failed if Baker, Brown and Solanke do not go on to win full international caps for England. Forwards Brown and Solanke were part of the England team that won the Under-17 European Championships this summer. “My conscience is, for example, to say to you that I think Baker, Brown, Solanke, if in a few years they are not national team players, I should blame myself,†Mourinho said. “They are part of a process the club started without me. Now, we have players who will be Chelsea players. "And when they become Chelsea players, they will become England players, almost for sure. I’m not saying we’re doing it just for English football, because it is also about us. “At the moment, officially in the first team squad, not under 21s coming to join us now and again, we have Christensen, Aké, probably another one because I want to have one more English player. “Baker, Brown, Solanke and Jeremy Boga. These four are not going to be in my squad because I cannot have 30 in my squad, but these four are going to work with us all season and these four are going to be Chelsea players. “These three are English – Brown, Solanke and Baker – they have to be Chelsea players and they have to be national team players. They have to. "And I have this feeling that our academy is bringing players to our level. “Chelsea will have a strong team with Christensen, Baker, Brown, Solanke, Boga and Kurt Zouma in two or three years, which is the end of my contract. “English guys or seven or eight guys from the academy – home-grown players. It’s a complete turnaround. At the moment, you look at the Champions League list and John Terry is the only one club trained.â€

No. We just need to stop doing any business with them whatsoever - it always works out better for them than us. Torres £50m flop. Sturridge leaves us to become one of the best in 2013/14 season. Moses goes on loan and rots for a year. Raul Meireles. Youssi Benayoun.

Ask me last season and I'd say Oscar is the best of those three (Oscar, Schurrle, Willian), but this season I think Schurrle will be the one that stands out with Willian a close second. They all have their merits and drawbacks - Schurrle is very offensive-minded and has a high shot count, but most of his shots miss, Oscar is strong in the tackle for a little guy, but lacks a top delivery and Willian is dogged and tenacious when he presses, but seems to lack ideas in the final 3rd. Still, a nice quandary to have and not a bad lad to have on the bench. But if somebody comes in with a big bid I think we have more than enough AM's to cover and we should accept.