President_Dan

Oscar, then Ramires and KdB. Thought JT and Cahill were solid as well. Lamps had a good game with a great free kick, Hazard wasn't as effective as we've seen him though. Torres linked play up well at times but also gave the ball away and, as usual, looked afraid to shoot.

Higuain is at Napoli, Arsenal missed him.

This is based off of the current squads. If we sign Rooney I'd put us in front of City (marginally). I'd base the top few teams in 3 tiers. (Tittle challengers, Top 4 Contenders, and 'Best of the Rest' or least worst of the rest, whatever you like) Tier One: City - I think they have the best squad (in terms of quality and number of players in the prime) and have had a significant managerial upgrade as well as getting rid of trouble players (Balotelli and Tevez) and replacing them with good quality signings, though i'm not sure that they have replaced what Tevez offered them on the pitch. Chelsea - Think our squad is still a little young and we don't quite have the squad that City do. If Toure and Fernandinho (who is a good player) perform well, with the addition of Navas and Jovetic, I think their squad might be too good for us over the course of the season. I still expect us to run them close. As I said before, signing Rooney would make us favourites IMO. United - Lost arguably the best manager ever and replaced them with Moyes, who is not a bad replacement but is hardly in the same League as Sir Alex. SAF managed to get a rather average United squad to win the title last season (although City were sh*t and we had our November crash). They haven't signed anyone yet, their best or 2nd best player is massively unsettled and their pre-season has been absolute dog-sh*t (which I know isn't that important, but may be significant as it's Moye's first impression). Tier 2: Spurs - I have said this for the last 3 years and they have managed to bottle it but I expect them to finish ahead of Arsenal this season. Their midfield of Sandro, Dembele and Paulinho is very solid. They've finally brought in a reliable striker in Soldado and Lennon is pretty decent in the wide areas, whilst they also have Bale. If they don't keep Bale they will get a load of cash for him and, perhaps, their squad will be better for it. I also think AVB is a good manager despite his time here. Arsenal - Still haven't signed anyone and I think their squad is worse than Tottenham's. If they get Suarez they will definitely challenge for top 4 again, but that's about it really. Their goalkeeper is not reliable and their midfield not as solid, and surely they will have their annual injury crisis. Tier 3 Liverpool - Suarez wants out, seems like there is no way back for him now after his recent interview. They'll be able to get a few more players in with the cash they get but won't replace his quality. In Sturridge they have a good striker and Coutinho is a v. promising no. 10 but Gerard, as good as he is, is ageing and cannot/should not be able to play every game. Their defence is pretty sh*t despite what some Liverpool fans think and i'm not at all convinced by the 'Brendan Rodgers' doctrine of passing it around the back four until the opposition are comatose by their 'passing game'. This said, I still think they have enough to finish ahead of Swansea (who may beat Liverpool head v head, but not over a season) and Everton. Swansea - I like Laudrup and think he has done a good job with Swansea and has made them more clinical. He has made some very good signings (notably, Bony) and maybe he has another 'Michu' up his sleeve. I'd honestly love it if they managed to finish ahead of the Scousers but I think over the course of the season they will struggle to get up to 6th place, especially whilst playing in the Europa league (which I hope they take seriously, but there is not much money in it). It would be hilarious if the club Rodgers left to join the 'Unique' Liverpool ended up finishing ahead of him, though. Everton - No idea about them really, new manager could go one of two ways... Also the possibility of Moyes poaching his former players. Rest...

Just tuned in, how have Chalobah and MvG played so far?

Just watched Scarface, again, love it.

agree, think it will be a very competitive and interesting season, can't wait.

20 goals/season as a second choice striker? He barely managed 20 this time and most of those were against piss poor opposition and he played loads of games.

Thiago is off to utd it seems. Isco to City/Madrid Strange article..though it is 'caughtoffside'.

No, I agree it is ideal to have a core of English players, but it is just very hard to find quality players at reasonable prices.

We are looking at Seville's Kondogbia apparently..£10m the quoted price. Would be a good addition IMO. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/chelsea-target-10m-france-midfielder-geoffrey-kondogbia-8662630.html

If there were some good, reasonably priced English players I'm sure we'd be looking at them.. but there is a real dearth of quality and value in young English players at the moment.

Iniesta, Busquetes and Xavi playing well... Still enjoy watching Spain when they play like this, completely dominating Uruguay.

edit: apologies, don't know how to embed.

I think he's a much better fit than Cavani + much more reasonably priced.. not sure if it is possible if his "dream" really is to go to Bayern. I don't really understand why Bayern want/need him, they have Mandzukic or whatever his name is + Gomez, as well as Gotze coming in.. surely no need for Lewandowski? Just being greedy IMO.

all these rumours about Mata are getting annoying, hope there is nothing to them

Jose mentioned working with Luiz in his interview along with Oscar and Hazard, no way we're selling him ;)

“We are absolutely delighted that Radamel Falco has accepted the challenge of coming to play for AS Monaco FC. We are proud to have secured one of the best players in the world and confident that he will help ASMFC regain its rightful status.†can't even get his name right on their website! come to Chelsea instead ffs

- Challenge for PL title - CL is a lottery, depends on our draws but at least out of the group stages - Love the FA cup - Supercup Other things i'd like to happen would be to keep our manager beyond 1 season, find a solid CB pairing and stick with it, and (hopefully) give Lukaku some good playing time as a no. 9.

I agree with bringing in Mangala.. but Porto are..stingy to say the least.. would they really sell for 12m Euros? I doubt we'll be able to offload Torres given the wages that he's on. Begovic is too good/expensive to be a back-up keeper too.

Torres + cash for Cavani? Sounds too good to be true to be honest.

he seems like a smart guy (from that above article.)

Legend

Don't like either but would prefer Spurs. Arsenal's apparent happiness at finishing 4th every year is annoying, and I think it would serve English football well to have a team that actually wants to compete for trophies in the CL. Yes, Spurs gaining CL football this year will give them a stronger platform from which to grow into a more successful club, but that could only make the league more interesting - I have no objections to having a stronger/more competitive league.

Would Utd even sell to a title rival? I hope not... Rooney is a good player but I doubt he has many years at the top left given how young he was when he was playing first team football. There are better options available (Lewandowski etc.)

He's coming home