Alpha Blondy

I bet Ferguson is loving this - the egotistical old prick must be loving the idea that Man Utd can't compete without him. I think Moyes will get a fairly decent chance but I wouldn't rule out Ferguson's return entirely.

I know a group of Indonesian girls who buy football shirts as a matter of fashion, completely irrespective of which team the shirt represents. My friend was wearing a Dortmund shirt last week and when I remarked upon it she admitted she had never heard of them. I encouraged her to convert to Chelsea - and what do you know, the next time I saw her, she was bathed in royal blue... I don't know if they are getting knock-off shirts cheap or whether they just have more money than sense! Anyway my point is that sheer availability, combined with apparently totally random factors could well influence how well each club (as a brand) sells on the Pacific Rim and in Africa. Football is a slave to economics and not vice versa unfortunately...

Ozil is a dyed-in-the-wool no.10; Oscar is hardly a like-for-like replacement for Lampard as a central midfielder but they are more similar than Lampard is to Ozil. Ozil could never play CM, especially in the Premier League, and especially with the style that we play.

I think Crouch's was better considering he had his back to goal.

You shouldn't be allowed to play for your national team if you have set foot outside the country - I am sick of these imperial European bar stewards once again pillaging what they perceive to be 'lesser' countries of all their virgin fruits. Down with neocolonialism! "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

McEachran and Mikel are entirely different players - McEachran is practically a defensive non-entity; considering the style of players we have been signing the likes of Mikel who might not be the most inventive player on the ball (although he has been constantly improving) is ideal for our central midfield as he is defensively solid. Unless we are able to acquire a De Rossi/Essien style midfielder who is physical and disciplined enough to play the holding role as well as being able to surge forward and contribute to the attack then Mikel is the man for us. If we had City's midfield (let's not talk about their strike force...) we would win the league at a canter. Unfortunately as it stands (unless we are able to raise our off-the-ball game to Barca-levels) I cannot see McEachran fitting into an XI which also includes Mata, Hazard and Oscar. He might be able to perform as a squad member but sadly (considering his potential and the attachment a lot of Chelsea fans feel for him, including myself) I think his future exploits lie elsewhere. However I would to be proven wrong on this - he is still the English Xavi in a lot of our hearts...

He did blow his whistle - the Arsenal players thought play had stopped

On paper that is arguably our strongest lineup - hopefully this will be the game where the Mourinho magic kicks in. I am very excited to finally see Eto'o play in Chelsea colours.

Bit of a strange one really, I am unsure of where we stand. I was delighted with our acquisitions until a couple of weeks ago; obviously our improvement is all relative to the improvement of the teams around us (rival clubs signing the likes of Soldado, Lamela, Ozil, Fellaini, Eriksen, Fernandinho, Negredo, etc...) has dampened my excitement a little. However I will try to take the transfers out of context and have a look at Chelsea alone as a squad: First things first, we made the most important upgrade we could: we replaced the insipid, tactically questionable and most of all hated Benitez with the shrewd, fierce and beloved Mourinho. Brilliant, even perfect. However, on the field we haven't made as much progress as I might have liked. At the beginning of the window our main requirements were (in my opinion) a top-notch striker and a sturdy central midfielder capable of partnering Ramires (i.e. De Rossi). After being rebuffed for Falcao, Cavani and Rooney, we decide that Torres, Ba and Lukaku will be sufficient. However a few games into the season; Lukaku and Ba look a bit rusty and lacking in technical ability, and Torres is in the best form out of the three (which is of course a very frightening prospect for a team desiring silverware). As a result we settle for Samuel Eto'o at the last minute - undoubtedly one of the very best in his prime but who has been away from top-level football for a couple of seasons and who also has played as a disciplined right midfielder more recently than he's played as a lone striker, in a more physical league than he is used to (although I am loathe to question the toughness of anyone who has played football in Russia). He is, at best, a gamble - indeed an inexpensive gamble, one which could pay off - but compared to the prospect of a Falcao, Lewandowski (etc.) he is certainly a bit of a risk. This is before we even discuss the season that Lukaku has lost from his Chelsea career, or before we get into issues of past conduct or character... As for the midfield, Mourinho seems largely satisfied by what was already available to him. Essien and De Bruyne were recalled, and Van Ginkel looks like a decent prospect (although I have maybe seen a couple of hours of him playing, plus pre-season is largely meaningless anyway). Perhaps Mourinho's faith in what we already have will be justified (considering his legendary man management ability... he's probably waiting for Ramires outside the showers as I type) but once again, without that defensive discipline and reliability in passing in our midfield we look a bit weak. Mikel could well be the man for the job, but Mourinho doesn't seem to trust him enough, even away to the champions - a game you would assume we would need a DM more than any other. Ramires equipped himself well (although his long passing could still use some work) but somehow it still feels like we haven't filled that hole in the squad - another risk. As for Willian... I am baffled. At the time I was horrified as I was sure it meant we would be letting go of Mata (not only the club's best player but the league's best player), but now the window is shut I am almost more baffled as I am certain that he won't be filling Moses' role of backup winger... Willian is a good player but I just don't see where he fits into the squad - for me Hazard, Oscar and Mata would all start over him - one can always argue that competition is good and an effective litmus test of a player's desire to succeed, but I get the feeling that our eyes were just too big for our bellies on this one... In addition this screws Moses with having to live in Liverpool for a year (and somehow I can't imagine him being in their starting XI any more than I can imagine him in ours) but he is a good team player and his sacrifice must be lauded! Schwarzer is a top signing and will make for great backup (the f**kup in preseason notwithstanding) and Schurrle is similarly a great acquisition - he is better than Moses and Marin - essentially the player we wanted Daniel Sturridge to be. So overall... I'm really not sure. We still haven't really addressed the major issues in our squad properly and have to some extent overloaded ourselves in certain positions. I think I have probably been a little more worried about the deadline day acquisitions than is entirely necessary and we do still have a competitive squad, however I feel that City are favourites for the league. I'm not sure I will ever forgive Real for this most ridiculously stupid of moves which leaves them losing Ozil and paying £40m+ just for Gareth Bale... I will repeat that José is the most important signing of all and I do trust in his judgement over my own, but I can't pretend there aren't some concerns. It's hard to raise complaints about such an expensive transfer window featuring such stellar names without sounding ungrateful, but I believe we still have room to improve. At least we have the perfect man for the job.