You can't make an omlette without cracking some eggs, or as Jose would say "no homlette, no heggs".

It boggles my mind that we haven't been in for Vidal if this fee of 28m with Bayern is legit. When you consider the figures quoted for Pogba that is highway robbery.

That said if he does move to Bayern we should definitely be looking to take Javi Martinez from them. A defensive midfield line of Martinez and Matic with Fabregas in front of them, is a CL winning midfield.

Rather have Thiago next to Matic than Javi if Bayern are willing to let one go.

Why we havent gone after Vidal for that price in the first place is confusing. Much better than Pogba imo

Rather have Thiago next to Matic than Javi if Bayern are willing to let one go.

Why we havent gone after Vidal for that price in the first place is confusing. Much better than Pogba imo

 

It's strange that Vidal to Bayern has gone pretty much uncontested.My thinking is that he doesn't really want to come to England, considering he has rebuffed any interest from United and Arsenal. He knows the German league well though, having played for Leverkusen and must clearly like it there. 

Edited July 17, 201511 yr by Brixtac

Begovic replaced Cech, Falcao replaced Drogba, Luis is probably going back to Atletico Madrid and we are now linked strong with Rahman,  also we are apparently close to sign Witsel, had 20m bid rejected for Stones,  add to that list Pedro... in 2 days our transfer windows is turned upside down lol

Stones probably won't be a starter at least to start with. So I still don't see any starter on the horizon unless we do get Pedro

Witsel if it happens would be a starter for us in big games.

who exactly are we going to sign as a starter though, realistically? pedro is probably the strongest option, but every other position is covered by remaining squad members. 

Mourinho said at the start of the window that we would be signing a defender, midfielder, and a forward.

He didn't mention goalkeeper as it was a delicate situation, but so far it's looking like begovic, stones, falcao,with another midfielder.

He also said the signings would be to put pressure on the first 11, so not he sort of transfer that would expect to go straight into the starting 11.

I think with it will depend on who impresses more between rlc and traore on pre season, whether we bring in a midfielder, or a winger. At the moment it's looking like a choice between aranguiz and maybe pedro.

Not a bad summer, even if we seem like the only club being hampered by ffp these days.

Good interview with Jose in The Guardian.

Basically confirms we're not looking to invest too heavily in the squad this summer and that the main aim is to continue to improve the side we already have and aiming for individuals to improve on their contributions from last year.

Says that Pogba would improve any team in the world he plays for but everyone is interested in him.

I read that interview. I don't think jose says what he really thinks in this interviews.

I read that interview. I don't think jose says what he really thinks in this interviews.

You have to read between the lines, under the bed, between the floor boards and on the top shelf when Jose gives an interview, I wouldn't pay attention, the mans a winner, I trust his judgment and abilities

You have to read between the lines, under the bed, between the floor boards and on the top shelf when Jose gives an interview, I wouldn't pay attention, the mans a winner, I trust his judgment and abilities

 

I never believe anything Jose says in interviews. 

 

For example he said we weren't signing Cuadrado and Schurrle would stay back in January, that didn't work out. 

that didn't work out.

Can say that again...

If you believe Jose then you can get depressed. Backup keeper, back up striker and probably a back up defender (John Stones maybe) and then he is happy, so probably same starting 11 as last season.

ohh no we have to play the same young team that won the division at a canter and ohh no we might have to develop some youth players.
How depressing it must be to have to watch and support such a good talented team.  

ohh no we have to play the same young team that won the division at a canter and ohh no we might have to develop some youth players.

How depressing it must be to have to watch and support such a good talented team.

If you're not moving forward, you're standing still, which is very risky when all of your main rivals are strengthening.

The Board will know that we scraped over the finishing line last season and we were helped by the ineptness of our main rivals. But none of our rivals have stood still this transfer window. Whereas we've arguably just replaced like for like. We haven't noticeably improved our squad. We will still rely on Hazard and Costa for goals and heaven help us if Matic gets injured.

Which makes it difficult to imagine that our only remaining business will be to bring in an inexperienced if promising central defender, in an area we're not noticeably deficient.

Still hoping that Jose is lying through his teeth and we're making plans for two or three quality signings.

If you're not moving forward, you're standing still, which is very risky when all of your main rivals are strengthening.

We are strengthening, our squad is young and improving! What we need is more rotation, last year there were players that had to play every game, which caused some slip ups because of fatigue. If we got stones, witsel, pedro and falcao this window i would say that would mostly sort our problem, we would be still very reliant on hazard, but that would always be the case unless we could get reus or bale.

The Board will know that we scraped over the finishing line last season and we were helped by the ineptness of our main rivals.

 

Chelsea 87

City        79

 

?????

 

Just because we didn't need to win every game doesn't mean we scraped it. Holy crap talk about doing a team a disservice. Maybe if they weren't so inept we'd have actually had to bother about it.

 

Let's not pretend like we should be scraping 4th.

Edited July 20, 201510 yr by Stim

That was us scraping over the finish line? Christ, how many points do we need to win it comfortably.

It was a big points gap, but I think it's fair to sY it was done in a defensive fashion in the last 12 weeks. And I'm glad it was.

I think José trusts the team to push on next season and he wanted some squad additions he felt could play his way. I'd say we're due for one more signing and one replacement for an outgoing player.

It was a big points gap, but I think it's fair to sY it was done in a defensive fashion in the last 12 weeks. And I'm glad it was.

 

We didn't HAVE to play all out for wins though. We could relax and do what we wanted, so we did.