Ribery and Villa ...

[Star]

How ironic that on the day JT finally confirmed what every die hard Chelsea fan truly believed, that he was staying a blue, the two players both he and Lamps openly stated were the players they'd like to see at the Bridge this season, remain as the only marquee men currently still available.

Now correct me if I am wrong, as forwards go we are now lumbered with Shevchenko again, with Pizzaro the only one sure to find another club.

We are surely set for a diamond formation, with loads of options and two strikers up top.

We have the African Nations and Drogba Champions League ban to contend with.

To the left of the diamond we have ample cover with Malouda and Zhircov, the tip is our oyster with Lampard, Joey Cole and even Deco or Ballack.

The base controlled by Mikel or Essien neither of whom will be available when the African Nations kick in. Ballack would be a liability there for sure, cue Modric's goal at three point lane last season.

To the right surely Essien is the ONLY contender bombing forward as his days in Jose roaming right back mode. But we have alternatives in Joe Cole and a conservative option in Ballack.

I'm getting a horrible feeling here, another pay packet from AC MILAN, not a young Kaka or today's option and the only player who could fill many a forward position in PATO ( C'mon Roman prove to JT you are as good as your word - make them an offer they can't refuse) are you getting it our marquee signing ... Brucie Buck style ... alright my loves ??

Step forward the ageing PIRLO, Ancelloti style, his lynchpin with an attacking verve, to sit in front of our back four when the African Nations start, it's so 'kin obvious it's unreal.

Why is it suddenly Ribery and Villa, do not look likely in our current formation ?

Because we are blagging our way to success again !

[dkw]

How ironic that on the day JT finally confirmed what every die hard Chelsea fan truly believed, that he was staying a blue, the two players both he and Lamps openly stated were the players they'd like to see at the Bridge this season, remain as the only marquee men currently still available.

Now correct me if I am wrong, as forwards go we are now lumbered with Shevchenko again, with Pizzaro the only one sure to find another club.

We are surely set for a diamond formation, with loads of options and two strikers up top.

We have the African Nations and Drogba Champions League ban to contend with.

To the left of the diamond we have ample cover with Malouda and Zhircov, the tip is our oyster with Lampard, Joey Cole and even Deco or Ballack.

The base controlled by Mikel or Essien neither of whom will be available when the African Nations kick in. Ballack would be a liability there for sure, cue Modric's goal at three point lane last season.

To the right surely Essien is the ONLY contender bombing forward as his days in Jose roaming right back mode. But we have alternatives in Joe Cole and a conservative option in Ballack.

I'm getting a horrible feeling here, another pay packet from AC MILAN, not a young Kaka or today's option and the only player who could fill many a forward position in PATO ( C'mon Roman prove to JT you are as good as your word - make them an offer they can't refuse) are you getting it our marquee signing ... Brucie Buck style ... alright my loves ??

Step forward the ageing PIRLO, Ancelloti style, his lynchpin with an attacking verve, to sit in front of our back four when the African Nations start, it's so 'kin obvious it's unreal.

Why is it suddenly Ribery and Villa, do not look likely in our current formation ?

Because we are blagging our way to success again !

what on earth are you on about now. blagging our way to success? in whay way? and how do you know we are surely set to use the diamond formation? he may have used that predominantly at milan but he was able to move players around and use other formations when required, as most managers do. what you have aginst pirlo im not sure, but hes hardly garbage is he. i would prefer other signings but would be pretty happy if we did get pirlo, hes still one of the best players in europe in his position.

[sexelk]

i would rather have ballack than pirlo :)

he gets his teams into more trouble than enough with his poor defensive game and a pretty poor touch when put under pressure. qualities i associate with ballack sure but at least he has the ability to score a couple of goals

[Uno]

I would rather have Gattuso than Pirlo, He would be cheaper and would fit the holding midfielder role and he can speak good english already having played in the UK before.

[Star]

what on earth are you on about now. blagging our way to success? in whay way? and how do you know we are surely set to use the diamond formation? he may have used that predominantly at milan but he was able to move players around and use other formations when required, as most managers do. what you have aginst pirlo im not sure, but hes hardly garbage is he. i would prefer other signings but would be pretty happy if we did get pirlo, hes still one of the best players in europe in his position.

There you are my friend consistent as ever and not on my intelectual level ( I have mis-spelt this to give you a hand !)

Blagging to success , means I am impressed by Ancellotti's formation, he is playing with what he has got, Ribery and Villa are marquee signings that no longer fit into our system.

Thus Chelsea will not spend the money expected from the likes of JT and Lamps, but we will get an oldie in Pirlo to cover when Mikel and Essien are away in Africa, saving a few quid along the way but winning the title along it at the same time.

Unlike Ballack and Shevchenko who completely destroyed our system when we signed them, Ancellotti is going a cute way of doing things and is 'blagging to success' to save us fortunes.

Who wouldn't want PATO ?

But Milan won't sell him unless Roman breaks the World Transfer record, we all know he won't, but they want Pirlo off the wage bill and we need any old fart capable of playing the holding role for a month or two ....

Comprendo ?

[Eggy McMuffin]

Jesus titty f**king Christ. :) ..... :lol:

[Scott]

Jesus titty f**king Christ. :) ..... :lol:

Possibly.

[dkw]

There you are my friend consistent as ever and not on my intelectual level ( I have mis-spelt this to give you a hand !)

Blagging to success , means I am impressed by Ancellotti's formation, he is playing with what he has got, Ribery and Villa are marquee signings that no longer fit into our system.

Thus Chelsea will not spend the money expected from the likes of JT and Lamps, but we will get an oldie in Pirlo to cover when Mikel and Essien are away in Africa, saving a few quid along the way but winning the title along it at the same time.

Unlike Ballack and Shevchenko who completely destroyed our system when we signed them, Ancellotti is going a cute way of doing things and is 'blagging to success' to save us fortunes.

Who wouldn't want PATO ?

But Milan won't sell him unless Roman breaks the World Transfer record, we all know he won't, but they want Pirlo off the wage bill and we need any old fart capable of playing the holding role for a month or two ....

Comprendo ?

firstly that isnt what blagging means at all.

secondly, you can go f**k yourself with your supposed "intelect" you arrogant f**king worm. pulling people up on spelling mistakes or grammar is the last deperate attempt of a moron.

thridly, how exactly is it you know were doing this then? are you romans personel secratary? are you carlo`s masseur? or are you just some random f**kwit. im going with the latter.

[midlandblue]

seconds out.

[Gem]

I would rather have Gattuso than Pirlo, He would be cheaper and would fit the holding midfielder role and he can speak good english already having played in the UK before.

Seconded, I think he'd be a much better acquisition.

[Tim W]

I think the ploy of our board with a month of the transfer window left and Valencia's money troubles growing by the hour is to wait for the price of David Villa to drop. The main problem however is persuading Villa to leave Spain.

[b00gamaster]

It's The Mail of course, but

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...d-AC-Milan.html

Chelsea table Andrea Pirlo offer that would see Pizarro and Mancienne head to AC Milan

Chelsea have been linked with an £8.6million move for AC Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo that would see Claudio Pizarro and England Under 21 defender Michael Mancienne go in the other direction.

Reports in Italy have long been expecting 30-year-old Pirlo to follow his former boss Carlo Ancelotti to Stamford Bridge, despite Milan's insistence that he is not for sale and the player saying he is happy to stay at the San Siro.

But Ancelotti is a huge admirer of his former Rossoneri lynchpin and has sanctioned a formal move for the Italy international, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Chelsea captain John Terry revealed this week that owner Roman Abramovich had assured him that the club were still ambitious and ready to sign star players.

Capturing the midfield author of Italy's 2006 World Cup success would be a start.

With Milan desperate to sign a striker, Chelsea are willing to offload Peru international Pizarro, as well as offering Mancienne on a year's loan.

The Italian giants have failed to land any of their three favoured targets to lead the forward line. Wolfsburg have dismissed all admirers of Edin Dzeko, Sevilla have priced Luis Fabiano well above what the Italians are prepared to pay and long-term target Emmanuel Adebayor left Arsenal for Manchester City.

Milan fear they will be priced out of a move for Real Madrid's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Pizarro could be the perfect solution, though they are also considering Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner.

Pizarro, 30, tempted Milan last season while impressing on loan at Werder Bremen, though, conversely, impressing Ancelotti then has tempted the Italian to give him a chance at Chelsea.

Pizarro is under contract for another two years and happy to make a go of things in London if he gets opportunities to play in the first team.

Milan boss Leonardo also wants a defender, particularly a left-back, and are thought to admire Mancienne's versatility, even if the 21-year is more comfortable with his right foot.

[abramovich]

I would rather have Gattuso than Pirlo, He would be cheaper and would fit the holding midfielder role and he can speak good english already having played in the UK before.

Seconded, I think he'd be a much better acquisition.

I'm sorry but I disagree. Gattuso is not the type of player that we need at all and he's by the way a year older than Pirlo. Why would we go after Gattuso when we've got Essien and Mikel? We have enough brawn, we need creativity and flair and Pirlo has it.

Pirlo's only downside is age. I'd rather we looked into signing players like Van der Vaart or Sneijder, but if Pirlo is brought in for a modest fee,I wouldn't mind.

[dkw]

It's The Mail of course, but

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...d-AC-Milan.html

Chelsea table Andrea Pirlo offer that would see Pizarro and Mancienne head to AC Milan

Chelsea have been linked with an £8.6million move for AC Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo that would see Claudio Pizarro and England Under 21 defender Michael Mancienne go in the other direction.

Reports in Italy have long been expecting 30-year-old Pirlo to follow his former boss Carlo Ancelotti to Stamford Bridge, despite Milan's insistence that he is not for sale and the player saying he is happy to stay at the San Siro.

But Ancelotti is a huge admirer of his former Rossoneri lynchpin and has sanctioned a formal move for the Italy international, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Chelsea captain John Terry revealed this week that owner Roman Abramovich had assured him that the club were still ambitious and ready to sign star players.

Capturing the midfield author of Italy's 2006 World Cup success would be a start.

With Milan desperate to sign a striker, Chelsea are willing to offload Peru international Pizarro, as well as offering Mancienne on a year's loan.

The Italian giants have failed to land any of their three favoured targets to lead the forward line. Wolfsburg have dismissed all admirers of Edin Dzeko, Sevilla have priced Luis Fabiano well above what the Italians are prepared to pay and long-term target Emmanuel Adebayor left Arsenal for Manchester City.

Milan fear they will be priced out of a move for Real Madrid's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Pizarro could be the perfect solution, though they are also considering Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner.

Pizarro, 30, tempted Milan last season while impressing on loan at Werder Bremen, though, conversely, impressing Ancelotti then has tempted the Italian to give him a chance at Chelsea.

Pizarro is under contract for another two years and happy to make a go of things in London if he gets opportunities to play in the first team.

Milan boss Leonardo also wants a defender, particularly a left-back, and are thought to admire Mancienne's versatility, even if the 21-year is more comfortable with his right foot.

that actually wouldnt be too bad a deal, though im a bit unsure of the loan deal. if we get pirlo for pizarro though thats a superb deal. the benefits of the loan are mancienne would learn quite a bit more being at milan for a year than being in the championship, plus learning a completely different style of game. if hes not going to be 3rd choice at chelsea (which as it stands is right, hes about 5th) then it cuold work out well for us and the player.

[Tim]

Always liked Gattuso, but what does he offer that we don't already have in abundance? Not keen on Pirlo either for the money that is rumoured, but at least he'd bring some creativity that we obviously need if we're to play the diamond.

[evissy]

I don't think there ever will be time or place where 'marquee' players like Villa or Ribery wouldn't fit. If we have a chance on one of those we should go for it. Don't want to go comparing us too much to Scum(as I hate mentioning them) but look what happened when they signed Torres. They finished over us in the table. There was LFS and blaa blaa blaa but they had that one player who with his superior skill made matches go their way.

We have those guys in Drogs and Lampard but we could use one more. Drogs injures easily and Lampard is a midfielder.

If we'd have a chance on buying Villa for example; we would sell Sheva and Pizarro(which will happen anyway) and loan out DiSanto. In short: make space for that signing.

We have been running with the same motor for god knows how long. I think we need some tuning parts which are expensive but legal in this business(sorry about the lame car comparison).

[Uno]

Yes we wouldnt need Gattuso if Essien and Mikel wasnt going on internation duty in jan for the africans cup. but we will be with out them for a good few weeks so we need someone to guard the back 4 and Gattuso would do a better job than Pirlo.

[Tim]

Sure, but that's because Pirlo isn't a defensive midfielder, so of course he wouldn't do as good as job as Gattuso, who is!

ACN or not, we have to stop the short term signings. Mineiro being the best example of how f**king pointless they can be.

Use the youth, or make do, but signing someone on big wages to do a job for a month, and then go back to the Ressies is pretty crap business.

[Elliott]

Carry on with the bickering people, and we'll be up there with the Bluemoon forum in no time!

[abramovich]

Yes we wouldnt need Gattuso if Essien and Mikel wasnt going on internation duty in jan for the africans cup. but we will be with out them for a good few weeks so we need someone to guard the back 4 and Gattuso would do a better job than Pirlo.

I hope you're not suggesting us bringing in someone like Gattuso just because Essien and Mikel will go to ACN.

Africa Cup of Nations will start January 10th(group stage) and finish January 31st(final).

That's our league schedule for the month of January: 9 - Hull(away), 16 - Sunderland (home), 27 - Birmingham(home), 30 - Burnley (away).

I'd say we could manage without them.

[Uno]

My original point was i would rather have Gattuso than Pirlo.

[bonetti]

Sure, but that's because Pirlo isn't a defensive midfielder, so of course he wouldn't do as good as job as Gattuso, who is!

ACN or not, we have to stop the short term signings. Mineiro being the best example of how f**king pointless they can be.

Use the youth, or make do, but signing someone on big wages to do a job for a month, and then go back to the Ressies is pretty crap business.

Spot on

[TheWestwayWonder]

Completely agree: cover signings like Miniero are about as pointless as it gets. How many times did we see him last year? According to wikipedia, it was once. Someone like Jack Cork couldve handly served us well in that role, and surely gotten more out of it than Miniero.

I would love that Pirlo for Pizzaman deal to be true, but I can say with confidence that the Milan fans might actually riot if that was done.

as for the original point of this thread.......why are we suddenly so glum? Okay, we might be playing a midfield diamond, so Ribery is probably not needed. But a 26 yr old, 50m rated winger who so publicly flirted with Real Madrid is far from ideal. Neither is a 50m rated 28 year old striker who doesnt want to leave Spain by all accounts.

Instead of being held ransom for talents like Aguero or Pato, I would rather see us take a chance on a talented but unproven youngster. Milan paid something like a combined 15-20m euros for Kaka and Pato. We need to be willing to take those chances.

Edited July 28, 2009 by TheWestwayWonder

[Eggy McMuffin]

Instead of being held ransom for talents like Aguero or Pato, I would rather see us take a chance on a talented but unproven youngster. Milan paid something like a combined 15-20m euros for Kaka and Pato. We need to be willing to take those chances.

Pato rejected us for Milan I believe.

[Sheva]

Spot on

Pirlo is a totally different player to Gattuso. Pirlo is a deep playmaker which is played in the diamond and Gattuso bossed the centre midfield in the diamond.