I keep reading people not being able to make a starting 11 without leaving someone out they like (ramires or lampard)

kalou, drogba, anelka have left since january attacking wise hopefully malouda and essien too

this leaves us with in midfield and attack: mikel, meireles,lampard, ramires, kevin de bruyne, romeu, sturridge,marin, mata, hazard, hulk*, torres, lukaku

straight off we know lukaku and sturridge will be less than happy (i think we should sell sturridge for 20m)

meireles romeu and de bruyne wont get a sniff

and i honestly think KDB is going to be a total gem for us hes been breathtaking in central midfield this year so much so that im as excited too see him almost as much as hazard he looks so fast in midfield like ramiresesque driving at defences but better passing

imagine if both essien and malouda somehow stayed??

it makes me laugh when people suggest we need another creative midfielder or a passing defensive mid its impossible without dropping someone who doesnt deserve it and has a champs league medal

how on earth do we fit all these in our side??

we started first games of last year before mata and when studge was suspended with malouda and kalou on wings haha?

Who would pay £20 million for Danny?

I expect us to line up like this :

----------------Cech--------------

Ivan------Luiz--------Terry----Cole

----------Ramires-----Lampard---

Hulk---------Hazard-----------Mata

----------------Torres-----------

Subs

Hilario

Cahill

Mikel

Romeu

Danny

New RB?

Ryan

Who would pay £20 million for Danny?

I expect us to line up like this :

----------------Cech--------------

Ivan------Luiz--------Terry----Cole

----------Ramires-----Lampard---

Hulk---------Hazard-----------Mata

----------------Torres-----------

Subs

Hilario

Cahill

Mikel

Romeu

Danny

New RB?

Ryan

That's pretty much the way I see it as well, with Hazard and Mata switching as needed, Mikel to make it an any 2 out of 3 anchoring with the 4 cbs rotating and Ivan as back up to the new right back.

That's pretty much the way I see it as well, with Hazard and Mata switching as needed, Mikel to make it an any 2 out of 3 anchoring with the 4 cbs rotating and Ivan as back up to the new right back.

Whoever we get at RB won't be starting. Ivanovic is one of the first names on the team sheet.

Whoever we get at RB won't be starting. Ivanovic is one of the first names on the team sheet.

Depends who comes in tbh.

There is no doubt Ivan is one of our best players but he himself has publicly stated he does not like to be played on the right hand side, he sees himself as a center half.

Don't think it does, really. Bane's is, arguably, the best RB in the world and unless we get Lahm (or possibly Ramos) somehow there isn't anyone that'd be an improvement on him

Don't think it does, really. Bane's is, arguably, the best RB in the world and unless we get Lahm (or possibly Ramos) somehow there isn't anyone that'd be an improvement on him

I LOVE Ivan but he is not the best RB in the world because that simply is not his position and there are a few who are better at playing that position imo.

It shows how good the lad is that he can move to RB and look like he is a natural there and perform at a very high level. I however know that having a player of his ability play out of position can be dangerous especially if other clubs are looking at him (Madird) and could offer him a role in his favored position.

If he is happy to play at RB then that’s great and we should be happy to have him there but he has already said he prefers the centre of defence.

I LOVE Ivan but he is not the best RB in the world because that simply is not his position and there are a few who are better at playing that position imo.

how come rb isnt his natural position when he spent the majority of his career as a rb? he was a rb in moscow, in the national squad and in chelsea. he is a right back

and tell me who are these rbs that are better than ivan? he was statistically the best rb in england and people want to bench him. idiotic

He was a right back at OFK and Srem, as all us Serbs will tell you too. He's versatile enough to play at CB, but has excelled at RB for Chelsea and at Loko Moscow when he played there.

Whilst he's also a tank at CB when he's played there at National Team level, he's looked much more comfortable as a RB at Chelsea and has probably been the best RB in the country when playing there.

how come rb isnt his natural position when he spent the majority of his career as a rb? he was a rb in moscow, in the national squad and in chelsea. he is a right back

and tell me who are these rbs that are better than ivan? he was statistically the best rb in england and people want to bench him. idiotic

He can play as a RB at a very high level as I have said before but he himself has spoken about his unrest at playing there so that to me suggests he wants more time as a central defender.

I rate Alves and Lahm as the best RB's in the world, everyone has there own selections though.

Edited June 6, 201214 yr by RFC_CFC

He can play as a RB at a very high level as I have said before but he himself has spoken about his unrest at playing there so that to me suggests he wants more time as a central defender.

all i know there wasnt a single quote to support that. there are in fact, quotes of him saying he will play wherever the manager tells him. i find that whole thing to be completely fabricated by the media

i disagree with alves being better than ivan, but even if he was both alves and lahm arent for sale. so why should we bench/sell ivan if we cant get a better player instead? are we a feeder club?

all i know there wasnt a single quote to support that. there are in fact, quotes of him saying he will play wherever the manager tells him. i find that whole thing to be completely fabricated by the media

i disagree with alves being better than ivan, but even if he was both alves and lahm arent for sale. so why should we bench/sell ivan if we cant get a better player instead? are we a feeder club?

I didn't say once we should sell Ivan...........

I rate Alves, but in Barca's system, he's more of a RM than a RB. But yeah, Bane is amongst the elite RBs in the World (Top 3/4)

Out with Alves, Lahm, Ivan and Ramos (Although he is now a centre back) there is not very many top drawer right backs around.

That Ajax lad is average imo but not a world beater, if we are to bring in another for cover I have no idea who we would go for.

I’m a bit confused by the opening post. If I understood correctly, the point is that we don’t need any more players and that we already have too many as there are favourite players who can’t be fit into the team already?

But the way I see it, as things are today, we are actually 1 player down on last season’s squad. A right full back specifically.

Last Season:

Defence;

Ferreira, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Bertrand

Midfield:

Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Ramires, Meireles, Romeu

Attack:

Malouda, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba, Torres, Sturridge, Mata, Lukaku

This Season:

Defence;

Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Bertrand

Midfield:

Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Ramires, Meireles, Romeu

Attack:

Malouda, Marin, Hazard, DeBruyne*, Torres, Sturridge, Mata, Lukaku

And as things stand, there are questions about Lukaku and DeBruyne (attacker or midfielder?) possibly being loaned out. And there are doubts about the future of Malouda and also Essien to a degree. So all in all, we are roughly where we were last summer. In terms of attacking players we are technically one down at the moment.

The big question for me is not do we have enough, too many or too few players? but is the squad 20 to 30 points better than last season?

I think Hulk would be a good addition as losing a player like Drogba can't be underestimated. And I'd happily see Malouda go to balance out the numbers if necessary.

And I think that the midfield could do with one extra quality player that could replace either Essien or Meireles (or both).

Edited June 6, 201214 yr by Snedger

What about paulo ferreira? He is going to leave us this summer?

I know he isn't the player he used to be anymore, he is getting older. But on the other hand he has been very loyal, he is a team player, he never complains in press and he can play on the left aswell if needed. When we sign a young rb back up, I fear he will eventually start complaining about playing time and also might not have the same professional attitude as paulo.

Edited June 6, 201214 yr by alex54

What about paulo ferreira? He is going to leave us this summer?

I know he isn't the player he used to be anymore, he is getting older. But on the other hand he has been very loyal, he is a team player, he never complains in press and he can play on the left aswell if needed. When we sign a young rb back up, I fear he will eventually start complaining about playing time and also might not have the same professional attitude as paulo.

Oops. forgot him. Sorry Paulo.

I've added him. Thinking about it, I haven't actually heard any roumours of him leaving.

Edited June 6, 201214 yr by Snedger

I really dont think its laughable at all to suggest this, OP. I think you hit it on the head to a degree. Meanwhile we got Marko Marin (excellent), Eden bloody Hazard (even better), and are on the verge of getting Hulk (would be a fantastic player for us, imo) but that gives us an absolute embarrassment of riches out wide.

On the balance of the last few years its clearly been feast or famine. In the last three years we begged for a winger/attacker, and we got the admittedly brilliant Juan Mata. Now, in a few weeks 3 new wingers + KDB coming in means we have 5 creative players for a possible 3 slots (assuming we keep the same formation).

Speaking practically: KDB goes on loan (as he should IMO) and Mata becomes our dedicated AM, eliminating the need to buy a deep lying midfielder. Then you have Hazard/Hulk/Marin for the positions out wide, with all three able to play the AM role. Looking at it that way, its not too much. Especially if Malouda and Benayoun are gonners.

-------------------Nando/Danny

Hazard(MM)-----Mata(Hazard)-----Hulk (MM)

That is a FEARSOME attacking quartet. But I would not be opposed to missing out on Hulk and adding more talent in the form of a deep lying, athletic midfielder.