Think Chelsea will be strong next season but it is their defence I worry about.

Cech was fantastic from January and Bertrand seems like a stable enough replacement (However can't see him being the next Cole) but Terry being another year older could be costly for them, I suppose that is where Luiz steps in

Mikel really stepped it up for RDM, had a better season than Essien for me

But they really are. In their days they were amongst the best players in the league, Essien particularly. But that hasn't been true for a long time now. We haven't relied on Essien as a staple of the side since he missed a whole year with his first injury and Malouda, who has featured a lot (and who knows why) now has vastly superior players coming in ahead of him.

Mata on the other hand was overworked last season and was clearly exhausted by the end, so I'm glad we're investing in players who can fulfil his role in the side so he isn't carrying our attack. I'd rather the younger players fill up the numbers, like De Bruyne, McEachran etc than relics like Malouda sit around and generally take up space. A Gooner I know literally didn't believe me when I said Ferreira was still here. At a certain point players just don't have anything left to offer. Essien because of injury, Malouda because of age. Somehow Ferreira can still pull a performance out when called upon which is why he has lasted so long. Sticking with these players for so long is exactly why we're orders of magnitude weaker than we were in 2010 for instance, and why people accuse us of being an "old side".



Its really just roulette with the managers. People say consistency is key, and in theory I agree, but we've won 10 trophies with the managerial merry-go-round while Arsenal have consistently won nothing in the same period. Our squad has been consistent, more consistent than any other I feel - and their unity carried us through to the CL win even though we were much weaker than the 2005 or 2010 incarnations of the team.

I'm wondering about Chelsea and FFPR, they got rid of some high earners but the people they've brought in won't be on peanuts for wages.

With their net spend over the last 3 years being circa £185m (source http://www.transferleague.co.uk/premier ... sfers.html ) and presumably more to come this season i'd be interested in how they are going to make up the FFPR numbers.

OK, they won the CL but they were CL regulars anyway so they will only get a boost from that and I thought all their other revenues were maxed out. Maybe I can ask Swiss Ramble to do an analysis on them :)

We have gotten various Sponsorships and Affiliations with different companies, one which is with Roman's company I think, so that's alot of Money there. Also Money from winning the Champions League and also selling dead wood and reducing our wages.

I wish everyone would stop worrying about PSG and FFPR and Chelsea and FFPR... let them get on with it.

I'm sure they have accountants and lawyers that know what they're doing.

The same as us.

Exactly. It's not like idiots run these clubs. FFP is a toothless threat anyway. Platini and UEFA really just care about the Money.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNew ... 23,00.html

Along with the Gazprom deal, this summer they have also signed contracts with Audi, Delta Airlines, Sauber F1. They earned about £50m+ from their CL win. And I think a new deal with Samsung is up for renewal soon. They're working hard to meet FFP!

Chelsea's downfall could be the fans, they'll need to move eventually to keep up with the Joneses.

Do the CPO have the insight for it to happen or could them being stubborn cost the club in the long run?

Is anyone one else watching Chelsea's preseason game against Seattle ? Watching the game makes me realize that they realize that they have a very interesting midfield, Hazard seems like he will gel in seconds, Kevin de Bruyne looks very interesting, Marin is very quick and if the add Oscar thought will be explosive.

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