Chelsea Thread 2013/14

[Sigh]

Mourinho's trolling Arsenal. I'm in the minority that likes the guy, I think he's a hilarous WUM: (bolded is my emphasis)

"You know, they like to cry," Mourinho said. "That's tradition. But I prefer to say, and I was telling it to the fourth official, that English people – Frank Lampard, for example – would never provoke a situation like that.

"Players from other countries, especially some countries, have that in their blood. So, if there is contact or an opponent is aggressive, they don't keep going. But this is English football. Foreign players are bringing lots of good things. They come here because they are talented. But I prefer English blood in football. English blood in this situation is: 'Come on, let's go.' Mikel's tackle is hard and aggressive but football is for men or for women with fantastic attitude. It's true."

He really really hates the Spaniards French.

FIFY

 

[Bilboblue]

Most of us don't want Torres, Ba or Eto'o though. Lukaku is the only striker we have on the books who is worth it and I have a suspicion that Mourinho agrees. Ideally I'd like to see all three of them moved on this year for someone new to come in along side Lukaku. We're fine with 2 in the system we play. We can't get rid of Eto'o until the end of the season, so I can see Ba being moved on this January. We haven't addressed this issue since Drogba left and I can't imagine Jose continuing with what he has for long. He's visibly frustrated with them quite a lot.

In reality we'll probably be stuck with Torres, but if we get rid of Ba now and Eto'o later (to bring back Lukaku); then we still have room for somebody new. Hopefully somebody worth while.

I cannot see a top striker coming in to sit on the bench. Nor can I see Lukaku prepared to sit on the bench. Not even Madrid could do it with Higuain and Benzema. Dzeko is probably going to leave City in the summer. Say you get Benzema, Rooney or Diego Costa then Lukaku won't come back to be on the bench. Lukaku has reached the age where he needs games.

We could quite easily keep 2 good strikers happy and a backup (presumably Torres if he won't leave), we play more than enough games in a season. We've done it for years with Drogba and his various partners, regardless of how they worked out. City have juggled at least 3 top strikers at a time since Mancini, and United have/had an enormous striker roster even after they moved away from 442. Even now we've had a healthy rotation of our three strikers, they're just not that effective. Lukaku and somebody new in competition would be ideal for me, especially since Mourinho lets 2 strikers play every week either in a like for like sub or when he plays with 2 strikers to chase a game.

What do you make of the Balotelli rumours Castiel?

Fwiw.... I reckon a strikeforce of Torres, Lukaku and Falcao would be fantastic for you, also rumblings of a possible bid from you for Falcao in January, extremely unhappy at Monaco by all accounts. Costa also worth a shout for you. You definitely need another striker, Eto'o hasn't worked out at all, maybe a couple of years too late?

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

It'll be between us and them duking it out come the end of the season.

 

[bleed.blue]

We could quite easily keep 2 good strikers happy and a backup (presumably Torres if he won't leave), we play more than enough games in a season. We've done it for years with Drogba and his various partners, regardless of how they worked out. City have juggled at least 3 top strikers at a time since Mancini, and United have/had an enormous striker roster even after they moved away from 442. Even now we've had a healthy rotation of our three strikers, they're just not that effective. Lukaku and somebody new in competition would be ideal for me, especially since Mourinho lets 2 strikers play every week either in a like for like sub or when he plays with 2 strikers to chase a game.

A 50 million striker as a backup to 2 strikers when your team plays with 1. Pass the joint bro.

 

[supercrystal7]

Most of us don't want Torres, Ba or Eto'o though. Lukaku is the only striker we have on the books who is worth it and I have a suspicion that Mourinho agrees. Ideally I'd like to see all three of them moved on this year for someone new to come in along side Lukaku. We're fine with 2 in the system we play. We can't get rid of Eto'o until the end of the season, so I can see Ba being moved on this January. We haven't addressed this issue since Drogba left and I can't imagine Jose continuing with what he has for long. He's visibly frustrated with them quite a lot.

In reality we'll probably be stuck with Torres, but if we get rid of Ba now and Eto'o later (to bring back Lukaku); then we still have room for somebody new. Hopefully somebody worth while.

I cannot see a top striker coming in to sit on the bench. Nor can I see Lukaku prepared to sit on the bench. Not even Madrid could do it with Higuain and Benzema. Dzeko is probably going to leave City in the summer. Say you get Benzema, Rooney or Diego Costa then Lukaku won't come back to be on the bench. Lukaku has reached the age where he needs games.

We could quite easily keep 2 good strikers happy and a backup (presumably Torres if he won't leave), we play more than enough games in a season. We've done it for years with Drogba and his various partners, regardless of how they worked out. City have juggled at least 3 top strikers at a time since Mancini, and United have/had an enormous striker roster even after they moved away from 442. Even now we've had a healthy rotation of our three strikers, they're just not that effective. Lukaku and somebody new in competition would be ideal for me, especially since Mourinho lets 2 strikers play every week either in a like for like sub or when he plays with 2 strikers to chase a game.

The thing is you didn't do it for years. Kezman was the first choice in the first year, till Drogba took his place and left. Then Shevcenko came in, but Drogba fought him off and he left. Anelka came in, but Drogba fought him off and in the end he played on the left. Then Torres came in and Drogba fought him off, until Drogba eventually left. We will see, but two top class strikers like you hope Lukaku will be won't be happy being on the bench. They are going to want to play the big games.

 

[Castiel]

The thing is you didn't do it for years. Kezman was the first choice in the first year, till Drogba took his place and left. Then Shevcenko came in, but Drogba fought him off and he left. Anelka came in, but Drogba fought him off and in the end he played on the left. Then Torres came in and Drogba fought him off, until Drogba eventually left. We will see, but two top class strikers like you hope Lukaku will be won't be happy being on the bench. They are going to want to play the big games.

I don't see it that way at all. Anelka especially was a huge success here and won the golden boot once with us. We've never relied entirely on Drogba throughout a season. He just outlasted everybody else. Anelka played like a wide forward when they were both on together, but he certainly wasn't playing like a winger and he got plenty of time up front on his own. Drogba was always preferred up front especially in the big games, but it there were never any problems with him until AVB sent him to the reserves.

A 50 million striker as a backup to 2 strikers when your team plays with 1. Pass the joint bro.

Torres has never been worth 50m. If we continued to live under the absurd assumption that he's a 50m player, then we really would be insane. The ideal is to get rid of Torres but I can't think of anyone would would buy him and he has no incentive to leave until his contract is over.<br /><br />-- Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:23 pm --<br /><br />

What do you make of the Balotelli rumours Castiel?

Fwiw.... I reckon a strikeforce of Torres, Lukaku and Falcao would be fantastic for you, also rumblings of a possible bid from you for Falcao in January, extremely unhappy at Monaco by all accounts. Costa also worth a shout for you. You definitely need another striker, Eto'o hasn't worked out at all, maybe a couple of years too late?

Mourinho and Balotelli would be interesting to see again but he's like a more developed version of Lukaku in many ways. We need somebody with different qualities and I doubt it'd be Falcao. Though if it was I wouldn't complain.

 

[supercrystal7]

I don't see it that way at all. Anelka especially was a huge success here and won the golden boot once with us. We've never relied entirely on Drogba throughout a season. He just outlasted everybody else. Anelka played like a wide forward when they were both on together, but he certainly wasn't playing like a winger and he got plenty of time up front on his own. Drogba was always preferred up front especially in the big games, but it there were never any problems with him until AVB sent him to the reserves.

The year Anelka won the golden boot was the year Scolari in charge. He had plans to change the team and he did drop Drogba and there were problems. Apparently Drogba was 'injured' for large parts of the season. He was certainly unhappy and in the end Scolari got sacked. Hiddink came in and brought Drogba back into the fold. After that Ancelotti got the job and he played Anelka upfront. At no time have Chelsea really managed to keep top class strikers happy to be second choice. I cannot think of a team in the last 7 years that has. It's like trying to keep Mata and Oscar happy. It's impossible. Top players want to play the big games.

 

[13/05/12]

The Lukaku loan was not a problem. Mourinho felt that at a big club he was not ready for the expectation mentally and his overall game was far from good enough. As you can see he wants forwards who can play with the ball at their feet regularly, Lukaku has not got this composure in build up. Lukaku wanted first team football and pissed off Mourinho, his lazy penalty was the tip of the iceberg. Mourinho saw Everton as a good move. Play and learn under a talented manager, more expectation than WBA. And also he plays against all of Chelsea's rivals helping drop points for them but not Chelsea themself.

Already Everton with Lukaku have taken: 3 points vs Manure, 1 point vs Arsenal, 1 point vs Liverpool, 1 point vs Tottenham. They lost to us.

From what I've been told Lukaku will be allowed to leave in the summer. The relationship with Mourinho is not good - he doesn't fit in his plans. Falcao is possible but they will try for Karim Benzema.

 

[Marvin]

The Lukaku loan was not a problem. Mourinho felt that at a big club he was not ready for the expectation mentally and his overall game was far from good enough. As you can see he wants forwards who can play with the ball at their feet regularly, Lukaku has not got this composure in build up. Lukaku wanted first team football and pissed off Mourinho, his lazy penalty was the tip of the iceberg. Mourinho saw Everton as a good move. Play and learn under a talented manager, more expectation than WBA. And also he plays against all of Chelsea's rivals helping drop points for them but not Chelsea themself.

Already Everton with Lukaku have taken: 3 points vs Manure, 1 point vs Arsenal, 1 point vs Liverpool, 1 point vs Tottenham. They lost to us.

From what I've been told Lukaku will be allowed to leave in the summer. The relationship with Mourinho is not good - he doesn't fit in his plans. Falcao is possible but they will try for Karim Benzema.

Lukaku's general game is poor. His touch and vision are non-existent. But he is a goal scorer. I can see why Chelsea have let him go on loan. he needs games.

 

[13/05/12]

The Lukaku loan was not a problem. Mourinho felt that at a big club he was not ready for the expectation mentally and his overall game was far from good enough. As you can see he wants forwards who can play with the ball at their feet regularly, Lukaku has not got this composure in build up. Lukaku wanted first team football and pissed off Mourinho, his lazy penalty was the tip of the iceberg. Mourinho saw Everton as a good move. Play and learn under a talented manager, more expectation than WBA. And also he plays against all of Chelsea's rivals helping drop points for them but not Chelsea themself.

Already Everton with Lukaku have taken: 3 points vs Manure, 1 point vs Arsenal, 1 point vs Liverpool, 1 point vs Tottenham. They lost to us.

From what I've been told Lukaku will be allowed to leave in the summer. The relationship with Mourinho is not good - he doesn't fit in his plans. Falcao is possible but they will try for Karim Benzema.

Lukaku's general game is poor. His touch and vision are non-existent. But he is a goal scorer. I can see why Chelsea have let him go on loan. he needs games.

Correct. Mourinho knows this team isn't the powerful unit he had in his first spell. He wants to build a fluid, cohesive team and Lukaku does not fit this style. At Everton where he is the main target it's fine but Chelsea want an interchanging front four. Torres has lost his pace and devoid of confidence, Ba again not the ilk of player.

All this talk about new Drogba is nonsense