Victor Moses Deal Nearly Done!

Heard up here that its a done deal

8.5mil for a guy his age that can play multiple roles and add squad depth is ok. Seems a bit inconsistant but would expect for him to improve with us. If hes going to start at all lets hope he adds more than the 6 goals and 1 assist he gave to Wigan last season. Home Grown status is also beneficial as we would expect potentially Lampard and cole to move on next year.

Cheap a-holes.

anyone else feeling that he may replace torres on sunday

The good news I've been waiting for. I'll hold my breath until he signs.

Nyc

I was against us signing Moses at the start. But following our mediocre performance on the weekend I came to my senses and thought yes we need a player like Moses.

Moses a Kalou? Moses is faster than Kalou ever was. Moses dribbles better than Kalou. He is a proper exciting player. He will be a joy to watch. Whereas watching Kalou play raised blood pressure a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSR53VXw-yo : this was as much as i've seen Moses play, lol, but from what i've seen he just might be the perfect player for us... young, homegrown, bags of potential, and under 10m, imo he's a good buy for us.

we are gonna need him by sunday I have been watching all of Man citys pre season games and they look a much better side than us at the moment very comfortable in possestion and with that goal scoring cutting edge, I really hope we have mata back and the team geling a bit better by sunday I dont mind if we are beaten but if we get hammered by more than 3 goals the media are gonna tear us apart

Though he might have been the perfect signing at this moment,bt i know Moses has that beastly attacking skills that makes defender get cautious with their play. Wil work better when he is not the only danger man in a line-up...maybe playing alongside hazard and Marin wil give him n dem more space to wreck havoc on the opponent.

I have a simple philosophy. Purchase starters and utilize youngsters for squad players. This is how 90% of all professional sports teams balance the books. I have only seen Moses play a few games, and he has potential, but so do other youngsters at Chelsea. If Moses is brought right in and utilized as the starting RW, I fully support the purchase. But, if he sits on the bench and rotates playing time between Ramires and other squad players I really don't understand the rational to spend $8.5M to $10M for another squad player. I would rather Chelsea find a proper starting RW. If Chelsea purchases Moses, I will fully support him to be the best he can be, but too many squad players block, stall and delay other rising younger players...I just hope he is a starter at RW. Can Piazon play RW?

BlueKiwi - Sorry I disagree. If you have a capable development system, the team would have either developed a capable back up or found another youngster instead. Youngsters must play a limited number of 1st team games just to find out if they are capable back-ups or not in the first place. If not, then another youngster gets the chance. If Chelsea had developed their own youth, they would not have had to purchase, Luiz, Sturridge and Marin. I view Luiz as a starter and at this point, Marin (IMO) would be the starting RW over Ramires. Yes, occasionally thier is a legitimate need to purchase a back up like when you have 1 starting CF and you do not have a young CF in your development system ready to go..THis was the case for Sturridge. Raul M. is a perfect example of purchasing a squad player that is really not needed. So, at RB we have Ivan, Paulo, Hutchinson, Kane, Nate Chalobah, Luiz and Ramierz if needed. So, buy purchasing Cezar does he block the development of Kane and Nate Chalobah? Does Chelsea really need to spend $9M for a player to sit on the bench. What happens in 2 years when Ivan, Cezar, Kane, Hutchinson and Nate Chalobah all are ready to play? Chelsea has way too many squad players in the first team. As a matter of fact, they can't get rid of all the extra squad players they have. They purchased them and gave them too much stipend and know they are stuck with them and can't move them. All I am saying is that the priority should be to expend $ for starters and let your development academy contribute. To go out and purchase a squad player (Cezar and maybe Moses) a back up for a year, to me, financially makes little sense. This is my opinion as a financial analyst within my preferred development system. If you have too many young development players you can sell them for a profit.

I have read that Chelsea already owns 40% of Wallace, so it would make sense that they would want to control the development of the player. I believe Wallace is 17 or 18 years old...

So in your opinion we need to offload Cahill (Terry staying as is captain) - and have backups as presumably hutch and chabolah? IF we had good enough youth prospects in ALL positions I would agree with you. Surely with squad rotation, injuries, form, number of competitions we need more than just 11 top end first teamers, and a bunch of youth to go with them?

I agree in principle re: youth but the point im making kenyanramires, that there are flaws in that argument. We dont have good enough, nor enough youth products to fill in ALL of the squad roles. Some yes.

As for Ferreira, Im comfortable with him in the squad as he can still put in a shift for us when called upon, happy to be a squad player, and can play RB/LB comfortably or even CB is very desperate situations - no need to renew his contract though

blue kiwi...with essien there..why should we buy a right back?i think for that defensive pole of the midfield,romeu and ramires are enough cover.we dont need essien in our team at all...

Central midfield needs to be addressed.Lampard should start only the big games.

kenyanramires - I agree that Essien/Mikel/Romeu is maybe a bit much for DMs in the squad. Who gos though? Romeu may go back to Barca. Essien has poor injury record, high wages, long contract so no one surely will make a move for him. Mikel had a good end to the year, but through out his time at chelsea as a DM he has been inconsistant. Im feeling like we are stuck with Essien (although has had some brighter notes in preseason and is just still coming back from long term injury). Fingers crossed our boys get out of holiday mode and fast!

Hopefully he'll develop to a much better player than what Kalou is...

cfc250 - my guess is that we are not getting a CM signing and that Lampard/Meireles will be our "deep lying playmakers" Josh as the youth backup along side Mikel/Essien with romeu as the youth backup.. Just my guess. Whether or not Oscar will show us that he can play that role Im really not sure. Why would we purchase a very good and capable/young number 10 AM, only to attempt to convert him?

Guys from India?Anyone has a clue as to which channel will telecast the Community Shield match?

urgently need to strengthen the central midfield with quality players and get rid of current crop of players like FL, RM, ME, YB.

My guess cfc250 is that he will deputise for mata with hazard on the wing. Do you see him being an automatic starter? bit of a jump from brazil to epl and the kid is only 20..

Its still early days. Season has yet to even start. And for those wanting more additions, transfer window is still open.

@BlueKiwi.I don't see his age as the biggest of factors in him being benched or not.He may deputise Mata.He may play as a deeplying playmaker.He may even play on the wings at times.I think we will see him at different positions.Or we could do with a midfield trio of Mikel,Ramires and Oscar in 4-3-3 formation.

Many of you guys are underating moses and I like those that saw what I have seen in this lad over two seasons ago, for me I'll be an unhappy man if we get him and he hits the bench,lamorochs is right why buy a player to hit the bench and why not use the academy players? Atleast piazon can play there too though both players favours the LW,so my take is if he is bought he should be bought as a starter, if not,better leave studge to play that position and use rammy as a deputy than stall his development, I see moses as a great player in two seasons,he is the next thing that is similar to drogba if properly nutured,though he is about three years or two away from being a player at the level of drogs

True - he may yet be versatile enough to cover multiple roles within the squad which would definitly be helpful. And no his youth is not paramount as to whether he will be a fit and ultimatly succeed, but I imagine he will get a fair bit more "treatment" from opposition to what he is used to in brazil league, and will get to see how he handles the pace of epl.. From most of what I have heard he is really a number 10 though, and a very good one at that

& @Mq - thats what I mean, seems number 10 is his role and best role - wont find out till the season of course as to where he can fit..

That said, when I read RDM say he DID NOT say we'd be playing attacking football......http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/265785/Chelsea-fans-warned-by-Roberto-Di-Matteo/.......it suddenly made sense why we've been trying those "non-working" combinations in the pivot, why KDB was loaned out & Malouda retained, why RDM's "noted" signing is Moses, (speedy on the counter-attack) when there's better attacking players around Europe (apart from Hulk) that we could probably get for the same price.

why are so much after that pivot role just play 4 1 2 3......with marin on left hazard on right torres upfront mata and oscar can play behing torres as both no 10 players....and oscar can interchange with hazard on right or marin can interchange with mata on left....and play romeu as dm....behind both of them...he seems to be a better passer and creater than mikel....and ya he is a better dfm also....or you can play 433 with same.players.....all those player should be in the first team so that chelsea can win something this season...

@mq.....i have read that and feeling so gutted after hearing that he wont change his feckkking defensive philosophy.....if rdm is serious about what he say then i would personlly wanna to the pitch and get his ass kicked of chelsea....i dnt want see what we played last year....because this season we have invested so much on attacking football that if he play that same.old crappy style then hope i hope to get his ass kicked out of chelsea..

After spending 76Mil on attack-minded players, you watch the preseason and believe "its just preseason" like many say, then you hear the Manager tell you we'll change A BIT what do you do if you Roman?? Sunday is "litmus test" day for me, either it will "encourage" more optimism or pessimism

There must be a good reason why chelsea mgt are so keen on moses. but chelsea fans wont see it cos moses is a less than 10mil player which makes him a non-chelsea material. They say roman wants attacking football, they seem to no everything that roman wants but the man has never spoken to the media. the man who spoke to roman before being appointed has now explained his brief; playing football to win games. if he thinks moses will be key to that then he should have moses. i cant understand fans are already passing verdict on RDM when we have not played a single competitive match. chelsea is chelsea and will never be barca. RDM should & would be given time and his desired players to do his thing....he has been given a brief and if at the end of the day he fails at it then roman will do what he knows how to do best....but first give him the chance to try, atleast he has earned it.

Given that we failed after NUMEROUS attempts to sign Hulk, a "fall back" called Moses somewhat makes sense. Add to that our Manager expressly stating that he never promised attacking football (what a statement to make after spending 76Mil on attacking players) then you see how signing Moses (coming from a team that 'excelled' in counter attack) makes all the more sense. By the way, the players we signed were before RDM was appointed so it's safe to say this will be RDM's 1st signing (only came into fore when we appointed RDM) what team would sign players first then confirm a Manager later if the Manager made the suggestions??

I am afraid RDM might be making the same mistake AVB made in a reverse way. AVB deployed attacking tactics for a defensive team. RDM in order to appease the influential legends might do the opposite and employ defensive tactics for this attacking team. Infact AVB tactics would sound perfect now with slight change of Sahin added to the team and Romeu, Josh getting more chances to play.

If they likes of Frank and others want to continue to play in the roles they did and more importantly same way they did they I guess they will have to convince the owner to sell Torres and likes of Hazard, Marin, Oscar and buy target man like Drogba and defensive attackers. That way aint never gonna work now as was shown by preaseason.

Gents alot of you are suggesting certain players should/wont/will be in our starting eleven. How can you guys suggest this when we dont even know what our best 11 will be? Not even RDM knows as he doesnt even have his full side yet. If we add Moses to our front line we will have a wealth of attacking talent, all of which are still young with the exception of Torres. The side will consistantly rotate and inter-mingle until RDM gets a greater understanding of who works well with who, and where they work best. Until then every player will get more than enough game time to stake a claim in our "starting 11".

Here's hoping that by "not playing attacking style" he meant "not Barca who play only 2 in defence" and by "changing a bit" he meant "Hey we didnt play defensive last season. We only did it in last 3 games"

i think people are thinking way to much into what RDM said in his interview.i think if we have hazard,mata,marin,oscar and torres in our team you will see more fuild attacking football on show, i just think he is going to try get the balance right from defending to attacking which is understandable. and people saying the big test is the cmmunity sheild disagree. this a built up friendly. one which we lost to man utd 2-1 a few years back then went a goal glut spree winning 6-0 like 3 time in our opening 6 games i think it was. let maybe wait till 5-6 games into the season then start moaning if we are doing bad. patience lads

@mq I have seen enough of Moses and can ensure you he is not a defensive player. He might come from a counter attacking team, but his traits are completely attacking ones. This signing adds depth to our right side and allows us to go ahead with the sale of Jehuada. With us looking to still sign a striker/winger and with the way Gourlay/RDM talked up Oscar, I think Oscar will play midfield. 4 3 3 or a 4 1 4 1 might accomodate both him and Mata.

@obimikelisthe best-mate i think your name shows your biased towards ur nigerian brother. i wuld also prefer romeu to mikel and i am not spanish or nigeian. i just think for the role of anhor,holding player romeu has been grooed to play there all his playing life,where mikel has been made to play there from a certain age. plus i just dont like what mikel offers a team.

I think if I was to try to describe my feelings heading into the season it would be "apprehensive". I'm a touch nervous about our weaknesses, but excited to see how our new lads will get on in the big bad premiership. My biggest hope is that we begin to gel as a team and we can see the attacks begin to flow between Mata and Hazard. The way the preseason has gone I still think that Marin should be at least a regular in the team (if not regular starter), and therein lies the biggest difficulty. It is impossible to field Lampard, Sturridge, Ramires, Marin, Hazard, Mata, Oscar and Torres at the same time. If the Lukaku signing has taught us anything it's that the club aren't scared of benching an approx £20m player, so I don't hold high hopes of Oscar getting much game time, especially with Lampard likely to be the first name on the team sheet. Along with Lampard, I think that Mata, Hazard, Torres and Ramires are must plays, and none of these guys are true defensive players meaning that Mikel, Essien or Romeu would be holding at the back. I'm already having nightmares that we're going to end up with Lampard, Mikel and Ramires in midfield with Mata, Hazard and Torres at the front. Why nightmares? 1) No natural width in that line up 2) Lampard constantly pushes forward and will leave Mikel exposed, and he's too slow to boss the DM area on his own. 3) The similarities between Mata and Hazard could lead to them playing under each other's feet and we'll be too tight together in the attack and easy to close down in attack. Apprehensive..... Yep..... That's definitely the word!

If Lampard is the first name on the team list then I guess it is a reason to worry. Not that Lampard plays bad. He is the best midfielder he have at present. But he just influences our play way too much. If he puts his head down and plays the role he is given, it will be best situation for us.

@DESMOND...I don't get you, really I don't. Are you suggesting we bench Hazard, Marin, Oscar and presumably Moses for a little and introduce them "bit by bit" while continuing playing Malouda et al?? Or are you "defending" the suggestion that Hazard, Marin, Oscar & Moses play 'defensively' for now??

Disappointed, what will it take you guys to accept that Moses is never a right winger, the fact that he uses his right foot doesn't mean that he is a right winger, he thrives more on the left and that is where he has been playing since I know him. Any praynthe deal go through so that all you Moses apologists can see what am talking about. But as for me he isn't what we need right now at Chelsea bet you he can't perform more than Sturridge he can't even break into the team given a level playing ground because he's not better than those we already have.

the big concern for me now is that there is no news not even rumors of departures of all our deadwoods.....i hope chelsea dislodge them.before the transfer ends or we will be in big trouble which has already started in our preseason....

Well if you look at the 11 players who played most often last year then the line up would be: Cech, Ivan, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Lampard, Ramires, Meireles, Mata, Sturridge and Torres. In theory we could play the same team for the majority of this season too! I seriously hope we don't, but you never know what is in the head of RDM.... From a back line POV I can't see any different. Still can't look beyond Mata, Ramires, Lampard and Torres in the starting XI and that leaves just 2 places up for grabs. One really must be Hazard given the hype and exposure around the lad, and the other will have to be a decision between a DM (Mikel) or a RW (Sturridge/Moses). Anyone else feeling confident with that line-up?

@mq.... Although I share your concerns, I think it's a little too early to call for the man's head on a block! If RDM manages to get us into the top 4 places after the first 8 matches, then I think he's doing OK. The bigger issues will hit us hard around October-November when the team has recently suffered a slump in form which normally continues through to December. If this happens this season then it will be put down to new players failing to gel, or fatigue carried over from the activities during the summer. Just like it was down to "key injuries" in a previous year or "the team not adapting to the new tactics" under AVB. That is the key time in our season and the moment when Champions will pull away from the herd and make themselves true contenders. We need to be in that elite group, and until we are/aren't then I don't think anyone can give a fair opinion on how (un)successful the team can be

If he's really coming wouldn't it be wise to send kakuta on loan there that way they get a good player and the loan will be beneficial for him ... Sincerely I really don't know how good he is Just home RDM knows what he's doing .

sorry BIZARRE and all VC that was a "sentimentally driven" comment, if possible ignore it: RDM to be sacked...

italian wil never learn they wil play thier feckkking defending philosophy game and would make the beautiful game worse to see......today who watches italian league i dnt think so there are much people who watches italian league.....and there are neither much of a fan base of italian league around the world......i dnt want that defnding type of game to see in pl....epl is the best in the world because of it fast pace game....and i dont wanna see chelsea playing with deending mentality....because last season was the worse in which way we played the match.....yaa we won cl and fa cup.....but as a chelsea fan i dnt like the way we played football.....if rdm wanna play his defending style then its better you pack your bag and go to italy...nd play there your style...

This @mq thing has really made me pessimistic guys. The more I read into it, the more I think RDM is just keeping the bench warm for Pep. If we were to implement RDM's style of last season we would have bought none of these players. I think a lot will be decided in next 2 months. If he doesnt do well in first 2 months, he is good as gone. Infact he is good as gone even now, if Pep decides to end vocation. I fear board are just waiting for that, (for Pep). Things looking real dark for RDM and he aint helping his own case either.

Bizarre if we play ugly and win, it becomes a case of when is Pep available. If we play ugly and lose, it becomes a case of how to convince Pep. Play good and lose happens due to bad luck which RDM doesnt have so this one is discarded. Play good and win is what intrigues me? Will board still want Pep. I hope not. I think RDM was the best choice to the board not because of his qualities but because he was the best to keep the bench warm for Pep. But what if Pep betrays us?

BIZARRE...the answer lies in what Roman wants really. Mourinho won 1-0 "bore-fests" and was sacked, Ancelotti won with convincing margins but the "moments" created so much doubt that only Cups would have saved him, and the Cups didn't come either hence he was sacked. Now that we've signed attacking talent (negating the "we didn't have the right players" mantra) it will be sad to see the club still resorting to the same tactics, even when 'slightly' changed. We need a "tactical" revolution to accommodate our attacking talent, and sadly with KDB leaving (and Malouda being retained) that's not forthcoming. I'm pretty sure KDB would've stayed for 40% of football with us, but we preferred "experience" for that, experience that's leaving end of season. If KDB doesn't "enough" get game time at Bremen, what's going to happen next season??

I think you're right about Pep, but nothing can realistically happen to RDM until the results don't go in his favour. My biggest concerns are over the league as was seen last year. It was good for us to set up a team to hold the opposition until such point where we can counter or try our hand at penalties, but that doesn't happen in the league. How many teams will consider a draw with us a good result? Most of them! All that'll happen is opposition will park the bus and we'll be sat in a stalemate bore-draw. Too many of them and we'll end up in the same position as the scousers last year. Ask King Kenny how being "the people's choice" goes down in the boardroom. I really do hope we can unleash our attacking talent at the opposition and even moreso I hope that Torres is challenging for the golden boot next year. I'm keeping the faith until the last day (like I did with AVB and Carlo and those before them), but as I said earlier... "apprehensive" is the perfect word for my feelings!

Forget about Tactics I think RDM's biggest test will be handling all the EGO's, that is what is going to make or break our season. The way he looked to be explaining to Torres why he took him off looked a bit weak imo, Torres has the backing of the owner so it will be interesting to see how that dynamic develops.

Glad for the Moses signing. Good price by the sounds of it and he has talent. He seems to have good possession skills as well. Valencia was a nobody before he went to United and look how that turned out. Now if RDM would just grow a spine and get rid of Lampard and Malouda....and get in even one proper midfielder. I would begin to have hope for the new season.

ANARCHY....I heard about that 'incidence' (didn't watch the game) and I have to say it's "amazing" a Manager explaining to a player (in detail) why he's taking him out, maybe it works well for trying to maintain cohesion but is he going to do this everytime he announces the players (to those not on the list??)

DAVE...I agree about the buys and likewise I don't expect that similar style, what I won't tolerate is not using our attacking talent "effectively" because we bought them for that. I stand to be corrected, but given the combinations being tried in the pivot (Lamps/Essien/Mikel/Meireles) I'm afraid don't expect anything similar to Man$hitty or ManUre (attacking football-wise) maybe Fulham-type football.For 76Mil spent, that's unacceptable...

Thinking of it, I felt, (WHY NOT)

The thing I think of you lot is that u are secretly hoping for rdm to fail so u can get pep or any other high profile manager,pep would come to chelsea and would FAIL" big time,you think he'll just waltz in and use the players we have and perform wonders? Football is deeper than what u see on TV,if u want to know what players selection is all about then by all means go to cobham and also the individual players family and see what's going on. Oscar have not kicked a ball for chelsea,hazard have not properly trained with chelsea for a month and so is mnarin,mata is just coming again to the team and so is romeu and studge,so are you guys telling me RDM should pick them and thrust them straight into the man city game? So if he is crazy enough to do that u think they will give the mancs a fight? When I said I'll wait 5 games in a role when the whole team is available peeps were saying things that just made me laugh...try to analyze all possibilities before jumping on people's throat. AVB was giving more time to clear the rut that hit the team from within than anyother coach,twas until when the board were convinced that he is clueless that was when he was sacked. So until RDM is totally clueless save your breaths and enjoy what he is dishing out, who knows there might be an appetizer in the mix

DESMOND...I never wanted RDM (you know this) for reason's I have stated countless times so I won't explain my reasons. However, I recall you stating that I'd see RDM having us play attacking football because the players we had then couldn't do it hence we were defensive, well while it's too early to say anything I have to say based on our preseason and his comments lately, we might as well forget about that. I also recall you mentioning that we'd probably see more youth development especially as he played Bertrand in the final, yet considering that we had 4 defensive players suspended (Terry, Ivanovic, Ramirez, Meireles) and Bertrand being the "only" defensive player available it made sense to play him, this season however he opted to retain Malouda, Benayoun & Essien (to play about 40% football) and has opted to loan out KDB, perhaps even Kakuta, Lukaku and McEachran. So much for youth development then, not so??

@Desmond, there is immense sense in what you are saying...radical transformation is likely to backfire. A sure thing. And also,RDM doesnt intend to get xpectations raised so high to an xtent the players wil be put under a huge pressure..reference:his comments about Hazard. It is better taken gradually,both the style of play and the replacement of of team regulars should be phasal, most suitable as the season progresses...but imho,the process wil be better fast trackd if lamps and slo mo take a bow at this point whether or not a suitable midfield maestro is signed. @mq, i dnt agree dat Moses play in a counter attacking team. Wigan's possession and creative football was at the high side towardz the endin of the sea. Go figure! Not that there no tad sense in what you seek to uphold,but its becoming too xtreme.

GabeU I understand your opinion but having spend so much and Pep still out there jobless, I think Roman will be least patient in many years. RDM sure has his work cut out. But I am all for him to succeed. That said I see why this "no attacking football" comment has many fans worried. Does it mean we will still park the bus? If it does, future looks dark indeed. Not just because we wont be playing good footy as was expected but also becoz we will fail miserably if we play "park the bus" now without a target man and without defensive wide men especially in the league where we cant afford to play for draws.

When did RDM say "no attacking football". All he said was "there wont be any drastic changes". And when he said that it was about players not playing style. If some of you think there will be a drastic change to playing style in 3 months time then you should think again. We will play more attacking than last year. But I dont expect us to be very fluid. The team will be very much ready in the next season. As I said we might win 1-2 cups. We wont win the league. Next year we would ship out remaining old players. Then we would have different style of play.

Gabeu I see that some of us are on the same wavelength here, @mq, why RDM have not sold benayoun,malouda and co is because nobody is ready to buy them,when someone is ready to buy them he will sell them fast before tyou type your name,the reason he loaned KDB is a no brainer,we were getting oscar, and we all agree that as much as we like KDB, oscar seem to be better, is that not so? Malouda? Well, nobody wqants to get him off our hands,I think RDM won't loan out mceachran, he is showing the faith I have in him by using lucas persistently, I am sure he is in his plans too..I pray RDM won't be pressured as AVB or get poor results as him, if he is lucky to sell malouda,u might see a lot of games where he will play piazon and mceachran....

We should relieve him of that decision by loaning Malouda with part wages paid by us. Yossi atleast offers, Malouda doesnt even try. Keyser it aint about offloading players, its more about waiting for their contracts to end like Desm said.

Lets see who is getting into our starting team. Mata, Torres are sure starters. Given his talent and price add Hazard in there. And atleast one of Marin/Oscar/new RW/ST will also start. Thats 4 very offensive players which is a disaster for "Park the bus" Any sane manager wont deploy those tactics. Thats why I think these quotes and what press made out of them might be out of context.

@Des - I totally agree with you. The team has hardly done a month of training and people are already calling for some heads to roll. Pre-season involves mixing different players in different formations. I do not think we will even get to see the best team coming out even in the community shield and I would not be worried even if we lose it. I just think that RDM is doing okay trying to manage the old players and the new ones. I would also like to believe that those guys see more of the players than we do to understand what they are doing. Most of us see one or two flashes of brilliance from a player and we get hooked to them. I think we have already let go a lot of experienced players to release some more. Some will have to stay until January - Losing Didier alone is huge. Expecting RDM to dump all the remaining experienced players Lamps/Essien/Mikel/Malouda/Ferreira is getting rid of an entire team if you consider that we lost Alex/Anelka/Bosingwa/Didier/Khalou without any experienced replacements. IMO RDM is doing well managing the old players and intergrating the youngans. Its supposed to be a process and expecting him to do it overnight is asking him to repeat the same mistake AVB made. There is a lot of games this season and everyone will get a chance to play and show what they can do. Let all the players come back first and get fit then we can have a clearer picture of who fits were. My advice to RDM is to play players in their best natural positions and not try and accomodate a big name player. If Lamps is an attacking midfielder and there are players better than him then bench him. If Hazard is the best Number 10 than Mata and Marin is a better left winger than Mata then Mata sits on the bench. If he is playing 4-2-3-1 some players will have to sit out because they cannot fit into that formation. IMO if he plays that formation Lamps will have to bench and we cannot have Mata/Marin/Hazard in the advanced 3 players unless he has absolutely defensive players in the pivot which would mean two of Mikel/Essien/Oriel (No mireiless/ramires/Lamps). My preference would be to have Mikel and Oriel because you will need people that are disciplined and can actually defend. Essien and lamps tend to drift too much leaving the other guys exposed. Assuming we sign Moses my preference in the 4-2-3-1 would be to have Mikel/Oscar (verdict is still out on that one but think it will work but may have a repeat of the problems with Lamps) in the pivot. Moses on the right, Hazard in the middle, Mata/Marin on the left. Sturridge or Torres upfront though I would prefer Daanyboy. By the way my wife said we should give Torres time to get fit and tell the new boys how he wants the ball and he is going to be good this season. He is usually good at her predictions so fingures crossed and remember her all season. I told her I am writing this and the guys will bash her if he does not perform LOL

i feel sorry for ulises davila. Us signing him + that worthless spell on loan have cost him his place in the mexican olympic team

@gabe. Completely agree. I remember hazard said he spoke with RDM Before choosing us. I look at the pre season the Edison way, at least we now know 4 possible team combinations that do not work.

i rily like how much geezers have gone off topic...waiting for oscar to work his magic.anyway,the striker issue. Leandro daimao anyone? Nice physic,eye 4 goal,understanding with oscar,plus,because of the oscar deal,might come cheaper than schurrle

i rily like how much geezers have gone off topic...waiting for oscar to work his magic.anyway,the striker issue. Leandro daimao anyone? Nice physic,eye 4 goal,understanding with oscar,plus,because of the oscar deal,might come cheaper than schurrle

For the Record I was against the sacking of Ancelotti and AVB, they both should have been given more time. I think most Chelsea supporters are secretly already worried by RDM'S TENURE, those who were very vocal and wanted AVB out and RDM as manager wont admit they are worried and will go to great lengths justifying why RDM should be given more time tis only preseason, still more players to come, the players are tired, it takes a while for the team to gel and so on. Those who wanted AVB to be given more time secretly hope RDM fails so they can feel vindicated that hiring him was a bad idea and in actual fact the club should have stuck with AVB. It will be known come January.

@humza, the thing is that u are wrong about moses, if he comes and performs it will be a big shame on u, I was suprised at your harsh attack of the lad it make me just laugh. Moses has a better shot than most chelsea players and he is very two footed...so I am bold to say u are lying shamelessly just to get ur point across...I'll go back to 2-3 seasons ago when his shot from long distance cannoned off the cross bar and leaving cech thanking his stars it didn't go in...

Is football consist only attack, i have seen how greek wins european champions cup with good defensive display and Chelsea in previous seasons. I wouldn't mind any kind of tactics provided it brings trophies here

Why does real madrid plays attacking football? They are in possession of our former coach who naturally plays defensive football

And I happen to know that moses has a great shot..been seeing enough of them, even recently

*the* and such a fine player**

I have to say I don't always agree with Mq's comments but I agree with his comments about the disconnect between buying 'attack minded players' and then caution chelsea fans not to expect too much of an attacking set up for the coming season. I thought Roberto did a good job when he took over last season (although I didn't enjoy all of the football we played), but it seems he is likely to bottle the chance to stamp his mark on the team this season which would be a great shame. His place in Chelsea's history is already assured for what he achieved last season it's just a shame that now having the kind of players he lacked when he was at West Brom his attacking philosophy he had then appears to have been left behind when he joined us! I actually think if we do sign Moses he will surprise a few people and unlike Ramires (as much as I like the player) he can actually dribble and cross the ball something we seem to be very short of.

i dnt h8 him. i just dnt want him here. The reason u no hes nt gd enuf 2 strt 4 us stop lying 2 urself and admit it. Ur far 2 biased u think moses will solve our RW problems? HAHA ferriera wd be more useful 2 our RW than moses. Answer me this desmonadonis if moses is so great why else does no1 even seem interested in him? And dnt say bcos evry other big club has mad wingers they dnt. right now city are in talks with scott sinclair as they want a LW. Sinlcair wd cost them 15m. if moses was so great y are they nt even thinkin about him despite the fact hes also homegrown and hes only 8-10m. Moses is more of a LW than a RW. u shd no that considering uve watched him ur whole life. We need a RW dat offers us a diferent dimension in attack. Hes a LW that does nothing sturridge ddnt do last season. not only is he nt gd enuf he dsnt even play the position we want. Id rather splash 35m on HULK or 25M on Schurrle at least theyr gd enuf 2 start 4 us

rdm was an attacking player,played attacking football at westbrom, so i see no reason why some people here feels he's going to play a defensive style. i think a balanced team is better than an all round attacking team, if u have mata,hazard,oscar,marin,sturridge up front then u definitely need players like mikel,meireles,romeu and essien to balance the team instead of looking for another sahin,modric and witsel, that will just leave the team exposed and we'll start conceding goals.

I find it quite strange y u nvr reply 2 any of my questions. mayb bcos u cant answer them desmonadonis. u just seem 2 make up ur own assumptions. u dnt answer my questions bcos u cant. just try and answer these: y is no1 else interested in him? Wat does he add to our team? if we need a RW y r we buying a player that is predominantly a LW? We need a RW 2 be able 2 be in our 1st XI.(we only hav ramires-whos nt a RW) so y re we signing a squad player? Try 2 answer them or just waffle about something else like u always do.

I believed time will come where by we can evaluate our performances included the new signing, the coach and the board rated moses, i cant wait to see the debut of the season

@Humza_96 pls stop arguing with Desmondadonis, I can see he just likes Moses and he's happy Chelsea are bidding for him but what he has failed to realise is that being cheap or qualifies as home grown or not, Moses is not what we need right now, like av said for the upteenth time he is not a RW the fact that he uses his right leg doesn't make him one, his best football has always been on the LW so why buy him, like Messi who is left footer but he thrives more on the right wing where he plays better for his unpredictability and he can cut in and shoot, so please stop being bias and say it as it is, Moses is not in anyway better than our other youthful squad players if they are given the chance Moses had at Wigan, you also claim he plays as a striker when and where for Wigan not at all cos its all about Hugo Rodallega and last season our very own Franco Di Santo who can not even break into our team so please stop all this he will come good campaign probably you just like him which is very acceptable but just saying it as if he is some sort of a messiah is a very big NO, Chelsea don't need him any any of our young guys will do if given the chance instead of Moses.

@ Humza - all good mate, just saying with all that talk of you saying you cant wait till he fails!

Why cant Hazard or Marin play on the RW people with Mata playing central? Mata is covered by the pivot for his lack of defence and it answers all the exisiting problems for RW? Moses is then a back up to LW/RW, Piazon also being a back up to any of the front three roles, and lets not forget Ramires can also play on the wing for when we need more defence and counter attacking ability?

@Desmond, what is stopping RDM from selling Malouda, benayoun, Paulo, Hilario, Essien...is that lack of buyers...I accept, but is ther any compulsion that he has to include them in the team roaster..he can very well leave on the reserves side...why do he chose to send KDB, Kakuta (those who he claiim that is part of his future plan) and use Malouda, Benayoun who are definnitely not in future plans and will be leaving next year...will a man in his right mind do this,,,i dont think so...

I wonder what is stopping RDM from making radical changes. Last year AVB missed to do the radical changes at the beginning and claimed he will implement the changes slowly after assessing the players. He started with Lampard and quickly learnt that he is useless in quick, attacking fooball philosophy. He tried to change, then started the cold war between the oldies and AVB which ultimately ended up on his sack and poor team performances. If RDM is any smart, then he should learn from that. he should do the changes quickly, no point in slowly integrating the players. Agee the players will take lot of tiime to adjust, but I will anyday take Josh playing rather than seeing Lampard or Meireles. If they are upto the standard e need, it is better to buy some quality players rather than putting faith in the old dead rubbers...

OHANS I can't begin to argue with you about how Wigan played last season, you have your opinion I have mine :)

KEYSER...no drastic changes indeed, so it either means he never saw a HUGE problem in the way last season or he just doesn't care about that, as he said in any case he is result driven. That's him nailing his colors to the mast, so we have to judge him by results. The problem with that is when they not going your way, we'll (or I'll) have no sympathy because he said he is result-driven, so that he has to deliver. we'll see with the results then :)

@ BlueKiwi - "Oscar as an attacking ..., Mata LW, Hazard on the right (interchangable). Ramires as other attacking mid, with one of the Dms in behind?" || That'd play out as 4-3-2-1 in practice. Which I don't mean to suggest is a bad thing; neither Mata nor Hazard are natural wingers, and natural wing play isn't the type of service Torres looks for anyway. Your suggested lineup is identical to what I proposed when extolling the virtues of 4-3-2-1 a couple of days ago.

We have the talent but whoever does not see it will always say we are short in areas. It is the balance that is not there

I applaud the patriotism though

Also, Sinclair has better stats than Moses. Last season alone, 40 appearances 8 goals compared to Moses' 38 appearances 6 goals, overall Sinclair has scored 44 goals in 163 games played yet Moses scored 20 goals in 147 games...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Sinclair....compared to....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Moses

I'm not disputing his talent, just expressing my opinion in response to those who allude to him like he's the best player of his age out there. (better than Hulk?? Ha...)

Slein Jinn. 4-3-3. Cech. Ivanovic-Terry-Cahill-Cole. DM(Mikel/RomeuEssien). LCM-Oscar RCM-Ramires (Attacking mids). LW/RW Mata/Hazard being interchangable. ST Torres.

Im not sure where we would find wingers in a 4-3-2-1, as the 2 in behind the striker generally stay more narrowand in behind

On this issue I will like us all to check up this link and see if the article makes any sense www.bluechampions.com/2012/06/22/victor-moses-to-chelsea-good-for-anyone-involved

@desmoadonis all those clubs dropped their interest, i wonder why? oh yea bcos hes nt d enuf. if hes nt gd enuf 2 be a quad plyer 4 city/arsenal how does that make him gd enuf 2 start 4 chelsea. mancity want a bakupLW dats y they want sinclair. sinclairs 15m+ moses is 10m theyre both homegrown so y are thy completely ignoring him? And once again desmondadonis u avoid my question and start waffling about something i ddnt say. wen did i say i think chelsea board/scouts are idiots? EXACTLY. stop putting words in my mouth. and try 2 answer at least 1 of the 3 questions. ur clearly cant answer all 3 so dnt stress urself try 1. if u can

Humza - I think he will come as a squad player mate. As I had suggested earlier, we have starters already (IMO) for striker, wingers, and attacking mid.

I rest my case

Hazard/Mata/Marin as starters. Moses (LW/RW)/Oscar(AM/RW)/Ramires(RW/LW)/Piazon(LW/AM/RW)/Sturridge (RW) all able to play these roles.

@bluekiwi i no wat u mean but wers da width? all those playrs will cm inside, we will b vry narrow. we need eithr a true winger or Hulk. we dnt nd a playr dats just bout gd enuf 2 warm our bench nd offers no width/cnt cross nd cnt evn finish. (moses)

We should not rest our case on the incoming players and forget that we need to release some more players to create space and balance. The last pre-season game showed that we still cannot play 4-3-3 with the central mid of the likes of Meireles, Essien and Lampard.

@ sojofjand. i would rather be a small fool if i take a gamble on moses and fail than be a bigger fool to take a gamble on hulk. sounds like common sense to me.

Something is actually going to change and when we minimize the pressure on the likes of Lampard to perform, we will be looking to bring in something different. We must accept that Lampard will not be a starter this season and should accept playing from the bench

Another question for DESMOND you said I was clueless about football and made reference to the Moura issue (that we didn't sign him) tell me again, who's signed him now and from under which club's "nose" did they sign him?? How much was the deal again?? *waiting*

@ mq PSG are on their own spending spree and would want to buy everything on sight. we had ours years ago and we still have a lot of debt and FFP to worry about. It is insanity to buy Moura for 45m and pay him 250k per week when he is to resume in January. You once said you are a banker ( not too sure). i leave you to calculate how much lucas will cost PSG before he kicks a ball for PSG and come up with arguements on how you think they can recoup a fraction of their investment. Let PSG make their splash, we've had ours