You forgot Oscar in there Star.  I'd say Mata/Oscar - Hazard/Schurrle - Willian/KDB in our attacking 3; but most of them are comfortable playing anywhere along that line which gives us added versatility. 

That sums it up perfectly star, its exactly what he did first time round.

Good post Star(fancy forgetting Oscar though)We all cried out for Jose,now we start questioning him so soon.Glad he is manager and not some of the posters on here.Willian is a great addition and i welcome him to the club.Shame Spurs missed out lol

Beat me to it before I edited it  Oscar in !

Please let him fail the medical!Not what we need .

Not worth £30 Million. 

 

Good player, but I doubt he would be a starter. Disappointed. 

We got first option on Isco with the Piazon deal...

 

£25m to Real Madrid. Didn't pursue in the end because he wasn't in a position we needed.

It was rumoured we had first option. I don't think we did.

It was rumoured we had first option. I don't think we did.

More than a rumour.

A friend and I were discussing that perhaps there may be some other motives behind this signing. I remember reading somewhere that Roman is friends with the Anzhi owner (his name slipped my mind), and he may be in dire need of money with the financial trouble the club is facing. Signing Willian for those ridiculous fees and perhaps Eto'o coming in provides Anzhi money and gives respite to their wage bill.

More than a rumour.

 

Proof??

A friend and I were discussing that perhaps there may be some other motives behind this signing. I remember reading somewhere that Roman is friends with the Anzhi owner (his name slipped my mind), and he may be in dire need of money with the financial trouble the club is facing. Signing Willian for those ridiculous fees and perhaps Eto'o coming in provides Anzhi money and gives respite to their wage bill.

Perhaps a 'I scratch your back now, you scratch mine back... In the future.' Type things!

Mourinho on Willian:

 

‘It is a crucial department for us. It is crucial because of the game we want to play and the intensity we want to have. We need alternatives and rotation and we need players to keep that intensity and that dynamic.'

‘In this moment it looks like we have a lot but when we get to September — and I am not talking October, November, December, January, I am talking about September — we have the Premier League, the Champions League, the Capital One Cup, a double national team fixture.  When this time arrives, 22 players is not a big squad and when you can add more quality it is not a problem. It’s a solution. A problem is for the managers without enough quality in their team.’

One player will not keep 3 on the bench.

 

He'll keep one of the three on the bench, that is the operative point.

 

Rotation is all well and good but the only way that De Bruyne, Van Ginkel and Schürrle are going to develop into top level players is with consistent game time. Fierce competition for starting places helps, but we already had that.

 

I'm not pressing the panic button by any means, I'm sure a few departures will make everything look a bit more sensible in due course, but the fact remains that Willian is a superfluous signing; all of the qualities and tactical buzzwords being bandied about to justify the acquisition, direct running, etc, were already possessed by Victor Moses, who does not deserve to be frozen out after a solid debut campaign.

 

The Willian purchase is akin to updating the upholstery of a Bentley that has a sick engine; everybody can see that the engine is where we need to invest our funds, we've been eying up a new one that will cost an absolute fortune and have a second-hand refurb on standby in case that plan falls through, and yet we're taking the time to switch from one shade of beige leather to a slightly brighter one.

 

It smacks of Thiago to Bayern, minus the somewhat incestuous player-manager relationship: people are quite right to question what Willian brings to the table that others do not, and whether getting rid of a solid, serviceable squad player to accommodate him is a wise course of action.

One player will not keep 3 on the bench.

 

 

Actually he'll affect the game time of every player he's competing against for a spot in the playing 11.

We got first option on Isco with the Piazon deal...

 

£25m to Real Madrid. Didn't pursue in the end because he wasn't in a position we needed.

 

Well thats wrong,Isco didnt want to join us because he wasnt sure of how many games he would get.

Not sure if been posted before but

 

http://talksport.com/football/so-just-how-good-willian-what-experts-say-about-tottenham-target-13082156611?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Proof??

It's was pretty widely reported in English and Spanish media at the time.

 

 

Well thats wrong,Isco didnt want to join us because he wasnt sure of how many games he would get.

That just sounds like an unsubstantiated theory seeming as he then joined Real Madrid.

It's was pretty widely reported in English and Spanish media at the time.

 

 

Never heard of it. 

Mourinho on Willian:

 

‘It is a crucial department for us. It is crucial because of the game we want to play and the intensity we want to have. We need alternatives and rotation and we need players to keep that intensity and that dynamic.'

‘In this moment it looks like we have a lot but when we get to September — and I am not talking October, November, December, January, I am talking about September — we have the Premier League, the Champions League, the Capital One Cup, a double national team fixture.  When this time arrives, 22 players is not a big squad and when you can add more quality it is not a problem. It’s a solution. A problem is for the managers without enough quality in their team.’

 

Mourinho on Willian:

 

‘It is a crucial department for us. It is crucial because of the game we want to play and the intensity we want to have. We need alternatives and rotation and we need players to keep that intensity and that dynamic.'

‘In this moment it looks like we have a lot but when we get to September — and I am not talking October, November, December, January, I am talking about September — we have the Premier League, the Champions League, the Capital One Cup, a double national team fixture.  When this time arrives, 22 players is not a big squad and when you can add more quality it is not a problem. It’s a solution. A problem is for the managers without enough quality in their team.’

I think that sums up the situation and reasoning pretty succinctly, though no doubt some will still say were a terrible club, what the f**k are we doing signing players for squad depth, this definitely means at least 8 players will leave etc blah blah.

It's was pretty widely reported in English and Spanish media at the time.

 

 

That just sounds like an unsubstantiated theory seeming as he then joined Real Madrid.

 

Isco discussion at 5:27

 

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/8759915/graham-hunter's-transfer-special

It's was pretty widely reported in English and Spanish media at the time.

 

 

That just sounds like an unsubstantiated theory seeming as he then joined Real Madrid.

 

Well if it was reported by the media it must be true. Wow!

I'm excited at the prospect of Willian tearing defenders apart. Just hope this signing pays off and he can prove the cynics wrong(I must admit, I'm still on the fence with this signing). I think people are looking too much in the random Mata rumours, he's not going anywhere, the club aren't THAT stupid to sell the guy to Man U. They can get to f**k.


P.s. f**k spuds

Fun fact: The real Willian actually plays for Gianfranco Zola at Watford, the Anjhi version was conjured up in an elaborate cloning scheme.

 

Never heard of it. 

Actually see the video in jack_super_class' post, Graham Hunter hints at us having been in the driver's seat for Isco for a while. I believe it was him and two others discussing us having first option on Isco as part of the Piazon loan on Revista de La Liga where I heard about it first. Some links off the bat:

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-get-first-option-on-hotproperty-isco-8454193.html

http://www.elconfidencial.com/deportes/liga-bbva/2013/01/16/la-llegada-de-lucas-piazon-al-malaga-puede-ser-la-clave-para-que-isco-fiche-por-el-chelsea-112927/

 

Isco discussion at 5:27

 

<a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/8759915/graham-hunter" href="http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/8759915/graham-hunter" s-transfer-special"="">http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/8759915/graham-hunter's-transfer-special

 

And yet he ended up at Real Madrid, despite their plethora of attacking options. Perhaps it's my cynical mind, but it doesn't feel like we can have tried very hard.

Edited August 26, 201312 yr by Fatty_Speeding