Chelsea Banter Archive August 11 2013

11 Aug 2013 22:02:45
Ed are we interested in victor andrade

11 Aug 2013 18:04:52
With bayern and Dortmund being stronger than ever, and Barcelona getting Neymar, and Madrid potentially making some more big signings, it will be very difficult for an English team to get anywhere in the champions league this year. There again who would have thought we would have won it when we did.

Have they really been that strong? Or has the bpl dropped off a little bit the last season or two?

The spanish certainly aren't better than us. We could deffinately beat barca, madrid and dortmund on a good day, not sure about bayern though - we'll see at the end of the month!

Certain teams match up better than others. I like how we stack up against barca. It will be interesting to see how bayern change under pep. If klopp can catch lightning in a bottle a second time I will be very impressed. I think Madrid would be our worst matchup.

Tk

11 Aug 2013 13:56:29
With pre season over and most players fit and on going on form. Starting line ups and what do we think of new arrivals. Shurrle de bruyne lukaku

In my opinion lukaku showed he was a class above ba and Torres although its harsh on Torres considering they were at different stages in their preseason program. De bruyne was class whenever he played and I'm excited because we won't have a major drop off when the three amigos aren't in the game which I felt was one of our weaknesses last year. Schurrle has taken a touch longer to get settled but I'm not worried at all.

Tk

Two of them not actually new signings but Schurrle has impressed, good cross on him and an eye for goal, doesn't mind running with the ball a bit, which hasn't been too much of a problem in preseason but we'll have to see how that fairs in the premier league. Lukaku is obviously a presence, good target man up front and scores the goals, nothing too spectacular though, however I think sometimes his touch can let him down in build up and a loose pass every now and then, but I can see him reaching drowns standard in his prime, even better. De bruyne is quite the player, has good vision, an eye for goal, plays all the right passes, can't really fault him, other than maybe a lack of pace on the wing, but that's not exactly a players nightmare. Van ginkel also, although not playing his natural position, has taken up his new role quite well, an improvement on mikel anyway, but he can sometimes be a little over aggressive in his tackling, but that you'd expect from time to time.

New arrivals. Not new signings.

I'd say our best arrival has been Essien, almost back to the old Bison, he can do everything Mikel can, and much more!

His personallity is infectious and is a good moral boost like Luiz! Mourinho loves him, so I expect he'd be a nailed on started most games! (And rightly so!)