Out:

- Didier Drogba 25 10 13 100 34 4 51 48 4 1

- Salomon Kalou 16 10 5 34 14 1 21 14 1 0

- Alex 6 3 0 8 2 0 7 2 2 1

- Nicolas Anelka 6 9 1 22 10 1 8 14 0 0

- Bosingwa 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0

Obviously the biggest player to replace is Didier, but he only started 25 games in all competitions! The stats don't really tell the story of the important goals he scored, but it was 13 goals and 4 assists in 25 starts.

In:

10 Eden Hazard 44 3 20 121 57 17 49 167 3 0

20 Goals, 16 Assists, 106 shots in 35 starts in the French league. Not many more in cup competition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbRc_KZ_kt4

- Marko Marin 17 5 1 35 11 5 10 45 2 0

17 starts, 1 goal, 5 assists.

Previous season:

Season Totals 36 15 5 10 97 40 39 81 4 0

36 starts, 15 sub appearances, 5 goals, 10 assists, 97 shots.

and 2009/10:

Season Totals 45 8 6 14 66 32 48 82 5

0

45 starts, 6 goals, 14 assists.

THE MAN LIKES A GOOD ASSIST!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftmeo_O3548

And if you can trust the media (which you can't):

12 Hulk 30 2 20 55 25 2 15 25 9 0

30 starts, 20 goals, 2 assists- THE MAN DOESN'T ENJOY PASSING!

Career high: Winning the Treble (League, Portuguese Cup and Europa League) with Porto in 2010-11 and netting 23 goals in 26 league games.

Career low: A brawl in the tunnel in December 2009 saw Hulk banned for four months and while it was eventually reduced to four games, that reduction came after he had already missed nine matches. It was an absence that badly affected Porto, causing them to finish third in the Primeira Liga and miss out on the Champions League.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Alex has already been replaced by Cahill and assuming, we can say Marin has replaced Kalou and Hulk has replaced Drogba- all in all the very signs are really promising for next season!! More than anything we needed more creativity and Marin/Hazard definitely provide that. Hopefully in terms of personality Hulk fits in with the squad- I think there are a few distinct types of brazilian temperament: you have the Ronaldinho style (close by you could probably have Luiz/Ramires) who are jokers, happy, love the game etc. Then you have another distinct type like Hulk, who seem a bit more alpha-male-ish..

Anyway: It would give us:

ST: Torres, Hulk, Sturridge (Lukaku)

Support: Mata, Malouda, Sturridge, Hulk, Marin

#10's: Mata, Hazard

Which is 7 players for 3 positions and should be enough!

Edited June 2, 201214 yr by Pauly

If Torres falters or gets injured, I think we're still short up front. We could use a sub that has a physical presence about him. Someone that can really hold the ball up.

Pauly returns - it has taken him about 3 years to get over being told Shearer was better than Roberto Bottlogio - good to see he is still writing in code and fully expecting to be understood.

I might even resurrect the picture posts in his honour.

Roberto Bottoglio

Slight typo - was supposed to be Bottggio

Otherwise known as 'He of the tail of the pony'

Welcome back Pauly.

Pauly returns - it has taken him about 3 years to get over being told Shearer was better than Roberto Bottlogio - good to see he is still writing in code and fully expecting to be understood.

I might even resurrect the picture posts in his honour.

I don't know who Roberto Bottoglio is, but he was twice the player Shearer was. And he is definitely thrice the lover Loz is.

Edited June 3, 201214 yr by Pauly

I don't know who Roberto Bottoglio is, but he was twice the player Shearer was.

If Torres falters or gets injured, I think we're still short up front. We could use a sub that has a physical presence about him. Someone that can really hold the ball up.

We need someone to be able to knock it forward and get it in the mixer.

Hulk can play as a lone striker too though right?