Nah, Messi.

I thought Ronaldo was House hunting in London and checking the bus timetable to Cobham? 

I don't want to continue to fan these flames of "depression" and such, nor do I want to be all "knee-jerk" about it, but I think we badly need a midfielder.

 

Someone simily in ilk to Lampard would have been ideal. We're lacking goals from midfield, and it's quite clear Costa's hamstring will be a problem (atleast for now), and Hazard has got the entire team looking to him to create something.

I don't want to continue to fan these flames of "depression" and such, nor do I want to be all "knee-jerk" about it, but I think we badly need a midfielder.

 

If it means signing Pogba or Verratti next summer will be happy with RLC/Chalobah (Cambiasso?) this season (and who knows MvG might impress at Stoke?).

Edited August 2, 201510 yr by the special one

Still think we could do with another world class midfielder to dominate games when Cesc/Matic aren't playing well.

Still think we could do with another world class midfielder to dominate games when Cesc/Matic aren't playing well.

 

If only it was that easy.

Still think we could do with another world class midfielder to dominate games when Cesc/Matic aren't playing well.

Just has to be better than Ramires or Mikel. How hard can that be?

Still think we could do with another world class midfielder to dominate games when Cesc/Matic aren't playing well.

I think Koke's the guy. But we'll be waiting until next season for the earliest.

Last night was a preseason game.

That said:

1. Our fullbacks can't attack. Ivanovic cuts inside once or twice a game but overlapping crosses that hit the target, not going to happen. Good at corners. Dave good defensively left or right but his only job in attack on the left is as a post.

2. Costa's hammy is obviously going to be a problem and there is no no2 for a side that wants to win the premier and compete in Europe. Remy is a good mid table striker and Falcao showed nothing last season, nothing for Colombia and nothing last night to suggest more than nuisance value.

I think these problems have been evident since costa was injured last season and I guess that's why it's surprising the club didn't make some more significant moves in the off season

If we get stones and baba and even if we don't we will be hard to beat but we can't expect hazard to carry most of the attack on his own all season

I agree we could do with a 2nd striker but its hard to find someone proven who would be willing to sit behind Costa. What other club has a first rate 2nd forward they have bought?

Even Real effing Madrid have nobody behind Benzema

I agree we could do with a 2nd striker but its hard to find someone proven who would be willing to sit behind Costa. What other club has a first rate 2nd forward they have bought?

Even Real effing Madrid have nobody behind Benzema

Yes, but Real and Barcelona can both take one of the top two best goal scorers of all time and sit them at striker and be perfectly comfortable with it.

 

Bayern have Lew and Muller. PSG have Ibra and Cavani. All the other PL clubs are equal (city) or below up front.

 

On paper Costa and Falcao two years ago is just the scariest sh*t of all time. Now one's hamstrings are clearly going to be bothersome all season. And if they are, I wouldn't be shocked if we bought another top notch striker next season. Falcao is not even a quarter of the player he used to be. Remy scores goals, but he does stupid things.

Edited August 3, 201510 yr by whitecapschelsea

Would have played traore, at least he takes shots and goes gor goal. Also, willian should be playing at no.10 or switch him with eden and put eden at 10.

Yes, but Real and Barcelona can both take one of the top two best goal scorers of all time and sit them at striker and be perfectly comfortable with it.

Bayern have Lew and Muller. PSG have Ibra and Cavani. All the other PL clubs are equal (city) or below up front.

On paper Costa and Falcao two years ago is just the scariest sh*t of all time. Now one's hamstrings are clearly going to be bothersome all season. And if they are, I wouldn't be shocked if we bought another top notch striker next season. Falcao is not even a quarter of the player he used to be. Remy scores goals, but he does stupid things.

You dont think we could sit Hazard as a false 9 and do the same?

If Suarez or Benz broke their ankle tomorrow they would be after a striker to prevent that.

Remy and Falcao are fine options if Costa goes down IMO. We just dont have enough attacking quality around them if Hazard isnt at his game. Replace Willian with Muller or Reus or even Sterling and losing Costa doesnt hurt us nearly as much. Willian is an absolute black hole when it comes to goal threats. Opposing managers know this which is why hes given ample time on the ball to do his little dance around the ball without ever doing anything. Hes a non-factor in attack which essentially leaves us with three attacking players. Teams can sag off him onto our strikers or Hazard which renders our left side clogged. Thats why Luis didnt work out, he had no room to operate on the overlap.

As much stick as Mikel gets for playing sideways and negative passes Im surprised nobody calls Willian out for it.

I think it's pretty clear that we need to bring in players.

 

First of all, we need to bring in defenders. Baba Rahman is supposedly a done deal.

 

Secondly, i think it's pretty obvious that we need a right winger. Willian, Moses, Ramires, ... are "good" players but that's about it. They aren't great players, and definitely not up to the standards you would expect at a club like Chelsea. If Hazard doesn't show up, we are pretty much f**ked.

 

Also, if we want to compete in Europe, we need another midfielder. Matic - Fabregas is just not good enough.

 

If you look at our competitors, they are all in better shape than last season. That's ok because they had to catch up. But i would've expected us to improve as well, especially because we did poor in Europe, but so far i haven't seen it. Our squad is not better than last season.

We need to bring at least two players in.

 

Everyone around us is beefing up and we seem to be moving sideways in the market.

Bale. It's coming.

 

Hope you are right - now he is a game-changer! (see other posts for supporting evidence)

I wish we had suarez; what a player. Perfect for chelsea.

No, not perfect at all. He is a disgusting player. Perfect for the likes of liverpool and barcelona 

Edited August 3, 201510 yr by Stim

Suarez the footballer is amazing. Best striker in the world im. Suarez the man though, no thanks

There's a lot more to football than being really, really, really, really fast....

 

But, but, but........ SWP, Lennon, Walcott, Sterling, Gronkjaer, A.N.Other

 

The list goes on of top-top (copyright Good Old 'Arry) world-class players who are nothing but really, really fast.

No, not perfect at all. He is a disgusting player. Perfect for the likes of liverpool and barcelona 

Was at it again last night in the friendly against Fiorentina. Jumped into the young keeper with his arms and knees and smacked him in the face, then pretended he was injured. Prick.

The match with Arsenal shows that we have a lot of problems in the defending line. I dont understand why we are trying to sign Stones if we already have 4 CB (JT, Cahill, Ivanovic and Zouma) We are going to pay a large amount of money for him and that means he will be in our first 11. In my opinion we urgently need a new RB. Taking into account the second part of the last season and the game with Arsenal Ivanovic doesnt show the same reliability in defending actions as he showed several years ago. If we signed Baba, he would play as LB and Azpi would replace Ivanovic as RB. It would be great and not require a lot of cash.

Is this TOTY 2015 ivanovic we are talking about ?

The match with Arsenal shows that we have a lot of problems in the defending line. I dont understand why we are trying to sign Stones if we already have 4 CB (JT, Cahill, Ivanovic and Zouma) We are going to pay a large amount of money for him and that means he will be in our first 11. In my opinion we urgently need a new RB. Taking into account the second part of the last season and the game with Arsenal Ivanovic doesnt show the same reliability in defending actions as he showed several years ago. If we signed Baba, he would play as LB and Azpi would replace Ivanovic as RB. It would be great and not require a lot of cash.

 

Ivanovic does his job and usually he does is pretty well. If we have one big problem, it's our midfield.

Is this TOTY 2015 ivanovic we are talking about ?

There were not Azpi and Fabregas in that team, but that did not mean they were not the best. In my opinion he scored a lot of goals and that is why he was in the team of the year. But he is a defender, it doesnt matter how many goals he scores. He should do more properly his direct responsibilities.

Ivanovic does his job and usually he does is pretty well. If we have one big problem, it's our midfield.

I agree with you. But who can be next to Matic? Pogba? It is impossible.