Mazacar84

What a run that was by Hazard, thought he was going to go all the way! Nice technique with the Peno. Hope Courtios is alright! How lucky are we though to have Cech come off the bench ffs!?

Absolute beast. I was skeptical as well but how could one not be? So far he's silenced any criticism from this guy. He always looks like a threat and with the likes of fab and hazard floating around I have a feeling there is much more to come! Exciting times for us.

Fabregas is the signing that shocked me. I didn't see it coming at all. With the departure of Lampard(Cries) we needed someone to take control of the midfield. Fab makes so much sense with all the factors included, like already being well suited to the English game. He's at the right age and he's incredibly talented. The type of player we lacked when we needed to split open 11 men walls just playing for the draw. Most astute signing in years.

The guy is a legend in my eyes. 100% passion and commitment when he puts on the colours. He's looked like a new player going forward so far, I don't know what has possessed him but I'm loving it. He's always had a knack for scoring some big goals as well. Absolutely love our Serbian fighter.

So Happy with this transfer market. He's a good signing and brings much needed depth up front. I am feeling more confident about things this year than a few years prior.

Game on now! You have to love that we finally have a striker who scores goals. First post of the new season. Hope everyone has been well! KTBFFH!

This is going to be epic me thinks! Excited as f*ck! We have cried out for a top class striker and now it seems we finally got one. I think things are going to be just fine next campaign. *Evil masterplan type grin*.

England could very easily qualify out of this group if the right players start and roy lets them attack the likes of Uruguay and Costa Rica. I expect England will set up boring vs Italy. If Gerrard and Henderson are our plan A in the centre of mid, say welcome home really fast. Hendo is great at what he does but isn't a midfield maestro. Wilshere needs to start with Gerrard. Best possible centre mid partnership we could have. Likely won't happen. Milner is a player I respect a lot and he's harshly underrated. Can't think of many players who can do very good job where ever they are employed. Talks of Milner as a Rb frighten me however. It tells me that Roy is as confident as we all are with Johnson. With all that said who would be surprised if Milner was a decent Rb? He's pretty good at everything else. Roy has to believe in his young talent. No good if their only used as "impact subs". Even if we lost to Italy, there is still a great chance to win our next two. Uruguay have an incredible forward line up but who are the rest of them? I believe they are being over-hyped massively. Costa Rica.... We'd only have ourselves to blame of we can't beat that lot. 3 lions on our shirt! C'mon England!!'

Hart Johnson Cahill Jags Baines Sterling Gerrard Henderson Ox Wilshere Sturridge Rooney is a very talented player but just does not ever seem up for the England job. By playing him off the bench you free up that NO.10 role. I think this also brings a more dynamic midfield. I know that Rooney will start every match but it's okay to dream? So given this fact, Wilshere should be in pace of Henderson. On his(Wilshere) night he is the most gifted player we have and possesses talent that the others don't have. Possibly Barkley.

Big personality, fan favourite. He showed glimpses of wonderful skill but consistent he was not. Seemed to have suffered from severe mental lapses. Considering what we bought him for, I think we have hit the jackpot. Not overly sad to see him go and that's just honesty. Thanks for your service and best of Luck Luiz!

We have so many options/directions we could take with our squad in general. Do we put some faith in some of our youth players or fork out the hard currency in this position or that. Clearly we are going to splash the cash for strikers and that is okay to me and I'm sure most of us. I still think we badly need a CAM that can unlock a defence like Mata could. Defenders is an area we could definitely look inward but I doubt we will. The price for Shaw is very high but I feel we will forever kick ourselves in the arse if we let him go to United.

Losing Ash means losing a truly world class player and a great servant to his club & country. He will forever be a part of our history and of course his "they do now" quote is probably one of my favourite Chelsea moments. He is a LB that is getting on in age but still showed his class when he was called upon this season. Hard to think of another LB putting so many big name players in his pocket. C. Ronaldo checks his closet for Ashley Cole at night. I only pray that he does not end up at another premier league club, I tend to doubt that anyway. Why not take the big bucks in the USA and live the hollywood life. Thanks for everything Ashley, you will be missed but never forgotten.

I suppose it's a trend that all nations pay the price for their own talents. Either way I'm sad we didn't pick up Shaw. I don't always jump on the hype train but I truly believe this kid is special.

So why do home grown talents cost much more than foreign ones? I remember what Andy Caroll went for at Liverpool. I suppose Danny Ings is worth €20mil? I think managers would be willing to gamble more on English talent if they were more affordable.

Scott I respect your opinions but we'll agree to disagree on this. It does sadden me that English players aren't getting a chance but I think their price tags are dictating this. Why gamble on an English kid that my cost you £20,000,000 when you can get a foreign one that has been proven for £10,000,000? I think the prices are a big factor in the weakening of our national side.

Again, think he is off to United now and that's pretty much a sure bet. Saddens me but as brilliant I think he is and as high as I rate him, how could you pay that price? People cry about the lack of English players getting a shout in. Well the main thing that is preventing this is ludicrous price tags for any English player who shows signs of talent. The F.A. need to step in and put some kind of a realistic price cap on domestic talent. The F.A. is not capable of much though so….. I notice some people saying that he will end up a winger and be a Gareth Bale type player. I think he just ends up an amazing LB like his developing into. I don't see him having the dribbling skills to be a Gareth Bale. Shaw can go past a player with his speed and power but he doesn't seem to have the tricks & flicks of a world class winger to be. I suppose you could say that Theo Walcott doesn't either but speed kills.

Thoughts on him this season. My personal Chelsea player of the year. Absolute gem.

The Hodge has made some very good moves with the England squad. I am excited about the youth injected into the team. I don't expect nothing but we have cried for youth to be given a chance and now they shall. Terry not being selected is however is a case of shooting yourself in the foot. I hate that people keep saying he retired, as if to say he just gave up on England. He was a public hanging by the F.A. and demonized in every social media outlet for months. He was forced into England retirement. Sad he won't be with England but happy we still have him at the Bridge. Greatest captain ever.

You are right, I do not watch football at all and have no knowledge of any premier league players. I happen to take a peak at all England in youth, it is something that greatly interests me. I pray for a generation of talent to come through. I have known about Wickham for a while, he was a bargain buy in fifa13 haha. He has been on a run of form lately but over all I think he has a lot of natural ability if he can stay healthy. Strong, Quick, Nice boot. Who knows he could flop but then again do we have any strikers that are better in the last 4-5 games? Take in mind that I would never pay the prices demanded of any of the players I listed. The absolute hike on home grown players is ridiculous. I'd take Wickham for 5mil and a pack of salt n vinegar squares. Of course though, you had to be a complete dick head about it. This seems to be the theme when someone says something on here that someone doesn't like.

Shaw, Barkley, Wilshere, Stones, and Wickham.

It would have to include him but usually Managers are not who we are speaking about in these terms, usually applies to players. If Mourinho some how transformed into David Moyes and gave us David Moyes type results, I'd imagine he wouldn't be around too long. At present there aren't any issues with our manager.

I am very excited about next season! Mourinho told us that this season wasn't ours and sure enough it wasn't. We have the tools of a very good team but as we know there are a few key players missing. Mourinho is a born winner and will be a man on a mission next season. He did what he could with players that he didn't bring in. His influence on our club was performance but we haven't felt his influence on our transfers yet. I am excited to see who he brings in to fix the trouble areas we have on the pitch. Jose knows who the best players are and he stays away from hype machines. If I were Hazard,Oscar,Schurrle&Co. I'd be very worried about Mourinho's recent "shots fired" in their direction. No player is bigger than the club and Mourinho is a ruthless winner. I do hope nothing drastic happens there but if some players don't change you just know heads are going to roll.

I think a lot of our problem is that we do not have an elite number 10 conducting things and making things tick in the centre of the park. Oscar is a good player but never the one to run things and thread the needle for a killer pass. Mata was, but I'll never know what really happened there. There are a list of strong players in this position and we don't have one. We do have incredible depth on the wings but for me the centre is the weakest link in our midfield. We have had considerable problems unlocking teams that "shield-wall" us. Oscar is a good player so this isn't a knock against him but it is painfully obvious that he doesn't have the tools for the job. Imagine if we had a David Silva feeding Hazard/Willian/Schurrle & co.

Well I am one who puts being English ahead of all local affiliations, Patriotic even. This thread is old but valid and interesting how different peoples selection looks now than it did on the first page. Some new players have come into the fold. It hurts me to say but I think Ash should stay home this time and make way for Shaw as a secondary for Leighton. I like the idea of having someone comfortable on the ball and one who can distribute the ball like Lallana. Wilshere can also do this if he decides to show up(fingers crossed he does). England have the tools to cause all kinds of problems for people with the speed and power we have available. The tactics of the Hodge will be our undoing. No sense in having tools if they aren't going to be used properly. So look forward to a true display of Park the Yacht and a good old boot it up into the box and pray method. lol England till I die all the same!

Dave seems to be a constant MOTM and I also voted for him. He has emerged as one of my favourites this year. I know there is Torres hate on here and some of it deserved at times but I seriously thought he did very well for the time he was on. I cannot understand why he got taken off.