Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

solarith

Lots of reports about Falcao now, would be awesome if true.

Panthro

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Well, looks like Dannys off, so does that mean 1 or 2 new strikers?

Not at tall, 3rd in the league with a game in hand...Sure we barely need one!:D

grumpymunster

Panthro wrote: »

Not at tall, 3rd in the league with a game in hand...Sure we barely need one!:D

Sure we barely have one

Three choices I guess

Stick with what we have and give Piazon a few games

Bring back Lukaku

Buy someone

Knowing our approach to these things will be certainly option #3

ST£15m for Danny that looks great business to me

GavRedKing

kev1.3s wrote: »

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/365666

Sick of all this bull****! it's always the new this lad or that lad! Didn't we already get the new Drogba when we bough Lukaku?

If we sell Sturridge to Liverpool I cant see them going after Gomis so we'd have a clear run at him if we wantd him.

Dont know why we'd go after him though, I'd rather Walcott if I'm honest or ideally Huntelaar

GavRedKing

Panthro wrote: »

Not at tall, 3rd in the league with a game in hand...Sure we barely need one!:D

Who's our game in hand against? Southampton is it?

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Who's our game in hand against? Southampton is it?

Yea was supposed to be played last Saturday game is away I think.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Yea was supposed to be played last Saturday game is away I think.

Should be another 3 points........should.

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Should be another 3 points........should.

I admire and respect your optimism:)

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

I admire and respect your optimism:)

Southampton's defending has been very bad this year though and something we should breach fairly easily.

I think they've the 2nd worse defensive record in the league.

Our main problem is not keeping up the pressure and going for the kill, like when we went 3-0 against Sunderland the team got very laxed and it was a nervy enough 30-35 minutes even though it was a 3-1 win.

Sgt Pepper 64

Loving the meltdown on the pool thread about Danny.
I think its fair to say that most are unhappy about him possibly joining them!

hots

Haven't posted here in awhile but thought I'd throw my 2 cents in for the striker prospects:

• Walcott: Oh dear god, not for us. We have enough #10s to last a life-time and he's simply not a striker... Sure he's more mobile than Torres but he's not really quality on the ball and definitely not going to solve our problem of wasted crosses in the box at all.
• Huntelaar: Yes please! He's strong and cheap, should convert well to the prem imo and would be willing to play second fiddle to Torres if needs be (or at least won't throw the rattle out for a bit of rotation).
• Gomis: Not bad. He's certainly the right style of player but is he good enough? I haven't seen a great deal of him tbh but what I have he seems okay.
• Falcao: Needs no words.

GavRedKing

Match thread.

McDave

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Well, looks like Dannys off, so does that mean 1 or 2 new strikers?

RTE Radio news was quoting €15 million from Liverpool in January, followed by a vague statement of Chelsea's interest in Falcao.

Looks like Sturridge is definitely out.

The Falcao thing is a bit of a sleeper. But if the deal has been done behind the scenes and all parties are sworn to secrecy, maybe there's even bigger news in the offing! :pac:

MUSEIST

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Loving the meltdown on the pool thread about Danny.
I think its fair to say that most are unhappy about him possibly joining them!

12-15 is a brilliant deal for us. However I think liverpool fans will be pleasantly suprised by how good danny is if played up front. I honestly think if danny had played the exact same amount of minutes as torres this season in the same position (cf) then he would have many more goals than torres does.

Anyway we will have falcao:P

McDave

MUSEIST wrote: »

12-15 is a brilliant deal for us. However I think liverpool fans will be pleasantly suprised by how good danny is if played up front. I honestly think if danny had played the exact same amount of minutes as torres this season in the same position (cf) then he would have many more goals than torres does.

Anyway we will have falcao:P

Sturridge is a decent player. Maybe in time he could be a Jimmy Floyd. But when he didn't respond to entreaties to be more of a team player, it was clear he was never going to fit into the kind of team RA wants to build. Unless he was going to knock in a goal a game - which he clearly wasn't doing.

what a day

I read an article from Guillem Balague this morning that we dont have any thing agreed for Falcao. PSG, Real, Chelsea and ManCity are in for him but Falcao's preference is Chelsea or Madrid and Atletico dont want to sell him to Real which is logical enough. Only thing is Falcao seemingly agreed with Atletico he will finish the season with them and move in the summer.

If he stays the season with Atletico and turns 27 again we get to buy him i dont want us to spend any more than 35m on him.

GavRedKing

Whatever we get from Sturridge we should use to get a new CF, if its £12million then spend no more then £12million on the new guy.

McDave

what a day wrote: »

If he stays the season with Atletico and turns 27 again we get to buy him i dont want us to spend any more than 35m on him.

Good point about Falcao's age. After three more seasons his resale value will have plummeted. We have to keep our heads screwed on on this one.

GavRedKing

McDave wrote: »

Good point about Falcao's age. After three more seasons his resale value will have plummeted. We have to keep our heads screwed on on this one.

There's no re-sale value on guys that cost that money and at his age.

Falcao coming in will seriously hinder Lukaku next season unless hes happy to go on loan again.

Kess73

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Loving the meltdown on the pool thread about Danny.
I think its fair to say that most are unhappy about him possibly joining them!

Damn right most appear to be unhappy about signing him.


Would be a great deal for Chelsea to get him off of the books and also to get an enflated fee for him, but all Liverpool would get out of the deal would be a player who looks one of the most stupid I have seen in a long time in terms of reading the game and linking up wioth other players.

He looks very one dimensional and game dumb at Chelsea, a club where he would be playing and training with some world class players that excel at things like reading the game and on pitch movement.

So at Liverpool with a weaker squad and a lack of the same sort of creavity and guile in the attacking positions, I could see him just being a frustrating speedy headless chicken type player who would get a few goals but who would cost easily as many goals through causing play to break down.

We have already had Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse at the club in the past, we certainly don't need an even less aware version of those two now that we have an even poorer squad than back then.

Would be delighted to see Sturridge stay at Chelsea or go anywhere bar Liverpool, but I don't think any other club bar Liverpool would be stupid enough to waste £12m or more on such a limited player. Take away his English nationality and you are left with a £6m player.

what a day

Kess73 wrote: »

Damn right most appear to be unhappy about signing him.


Would be a great deal for Chelsea to get him off of the books and also to get an enflated fee for him, but all Liverpool would get out of the deal would be a player who looks one of the most stupid I have seen in a long time in terms of reading the game and linking up wioth other players.

He looks very one dimensional and game dumb at Chelsea, a club where he would be playing and training with some world class players that excel at things like reading the game and on pitch movement.

So at Liverpool with a weaker squad and a lack of the same sort of creavity and guile in the attacking positions, I could see him just being a frustrating speedy headless chicken type player who would get a few goals but who would cost easily as many goals through causing play to break down.

We have already had Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse at the club in the past, we certainly don't need an even less aware version of those two now that we have an even poorer squad than back then.

Would be delighted to see Sturridge stay at Chelsea or go anywhere bar Liverpool, but I don't think any other club bar Liverpool would be stupid enough to waste £12m or more on such a limited player. Take away his English nationality and you are left with a £6m player.

Im one of the few Chelsea fans that truely believe Sturridge would get 20 goals a season. He has been made look sill because his attitude to being forced to play out wide which he does not want. TBF to him he can play out wide but its his attitude that lets him down. If Liverpool play him trough the center watch you eat eat your words! He is a very good striker, very young and if coached correct he could be awsome. For 12-15 million you have a bargain for such a young english talent. Look how much was spent on Fletcher and Bent, IMO Sturridge is better than both.

GavRedKing

I agree with Kess, somes him up perfectly and it would be a better deal for Chelsea then Liverpool.

In Lukaku we have a better prospect regardless and one I'd rather play then Sturridge.

grumpymunster

Don't ManC get a chunk of Danny's sell on fee think they do. Does not really matter ST£15m less 25% or whatever still a good deal.

What annoys me about Danny as pointed out by Kess is his lack of awareness, ok he would prefer to play down the middle but regardless of where you play now and again you have to look to see who is where. I can see Suarez having a few heart attacks with Dannys lack of awareness, as a non Liverpool fan that could be really entertaining (sorry Kess).

Kess73

what a day wrote: »

Im one of the few Chelsea fans that truely believe Sturridge would get 20 goals a season. He has been made look sill because his attitude to being forced to play out wide which he does not want. TBF to him he can play out wide but its his attitude that lets him down. If Liverpool play him trough the center watch you eat eat your words! He is a very good striker, very young and if coached correct he could be awsome. For 12-15 million you have a bargain for such a young english talent. Look how much was spent on Fletcher and Bent, IMO Sturridge is better than both.

Sturridge, for me, has great physical qualities that would suit a more direct and more physical team. Just said something similar in the LFC thread.

I think he would excel at Stoke, West Ham, or Bolton.

Those teams would try to utilise his pace and strength and would have the physically powerful players down the spines of their starting XIs that would get the ball and release it quickly in a straight line.


Liverpool simple don't play that way and don't have the players in the squad to build around a player with good physical qualities but no footballing brain.

We tried that idea to a degree with Andy Carroll. A play that was supposedly a physical powerhouse (turned out he was nothing of the sort) but who is pretty brainless in terms of game smarts.


Liverpool as a team are actually set up a lot like how Chelsea were set up last season and for a number of seasons before that, just with far less guile, creativity and ability in midfiled and the attacking slots.

If Sturridge looks brainless with Chelsea then I fail to see how he will suddenly look good in a team that plays in a very similar manner but that has lesser players in the attacking slots.

Saying that 12m -15m for Sturridge is a bargain made me laugh. Yes he is young, but 23 is not very young in football terms.


You day that he could be awesome if coached well. Looks to me that he has spent the bones of the past three years at a club laden with world class players, some good coaches, some good managers, and yet he still just looks a very fast physically gifted brainless footballer to me.

If he were French or Dutch he would be lucky to fetch a £6m fee. A quick look at some of the transfer fees paid over the past few transfer windows shows exactly what the highest rated home grown talent moves for in those countries, and I can think of a good number of young talents that moved for fees that would be a fraction of what Sturridge is meant to be rated at.

Selling him for 12m -15m would be a fantastic bit of business by Chelsea imho, and buying him for that much would be a very poor bit of business by the club I support.

Sgt Pepper 64

Am I missing something here?

Liverpool sell us a non scoring striker for 50 million.
We then sell them our only scoring striker for 12 million
(leaving us with the non-scoring one who's had more comebacks than JC himself)

net profit to liverpool 38 milliion!

meanwhile Roman ships out Drogba and Anelka AND brings in agent Rafa whilst sacking the coach of the year who won him the one trophy he craves
Plus the other manager he sacked, is now doing very well thank you and is level on points with us managing an arch rival

Then we sign another 27 year old hot shot NEXT SUMMER for stupid money and wages with no resale value

How the heck is Roman a businessman?? :eek:

grumpymunster

Anyone else heard tell of this?

http://www.sportingpreview.com/football2012-3/2012477.php?

If true awful news for Tito and his family.

Big chance of Pepe going back there as well you would have thought.

Kess73

grumpymunster wrote: »

Don't ManC get a chunk of Danny's sell on fee think they do. Does not really matter ST£15m less 25% or whatever still a good deal.

What annoys me about Danny as pointed out by Kess is his lack of awareness, ok he would prefer to play down the middle but regardless of where you play now and again you have to look to see who is where. I can see Suarez having a few heart attacks with Dannys lack of awareness, as a non Liverpool fan that could be really entertaining (sorry Kess).

I think if the deal does go through that you will be proven 100% correct in that. Him through the centre at Liverpool will flop imho. Suarez has to pretty much go it alone playing through the centre for us, and he is a vastly superior player to Sturridge. So a more limited player like Sturridge is not going to be dropping deep and to the flanks in order to get the ball like Suarez does, and is not going to be able to read the game like Suarez does.

As a team, Liverpool does not play quickly through the centre in terms of creating attacking play. We are quite slow and plodding through the centre with more of an empahsis on keeping the ball than there is on releasing it quickly into the final third. Most of our attacks come down the flanks and rely on players overlapping and following up on each other. Does that sound like the kind of play that Sturridge would excel at? Thought not.

I think Sturridge is a terrible match for Liverpool and vice versa.

Chelsea can carry a player like him to a degree thanks to the genuine quality littered throughout your squad and first team. Liverpool don'thave a fraction of that quality.:(

greendom

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Am I missing something here?

Liverpool sell us a non scoring striker for 50 million.
We then sell them our only scoring striker for 12 million
(leaving us with the non-scoring one who's had more comebacks than JC himself)

net profit to liverpool 38 milliion!

meanwhile Roman ships out Drogba and Anelka AND brings in agent Rafa whilst sacking the coach of the year who won him the one trophy he craves
Plus the other manager he sacked, is now doing very well thank you and is level on points with us managing an arch rival

Then we sign another 27 year old hot shot NEXT SUMMER for stupid money and wages with no resale value

How the heck is Roman a businessman?? :eek:

He's a pretty astute businessman but doesn't treat Chelsea like a business. Luckily for you he doesn't expect a return from this particular venture.

Caveman1

grumpymunster wrote: »

Anyone else heard tell of this?

http://www.sportingpreview.com/football2012-3/2012477.php?

If true awful news for Tito and his family.

Big chance of Pepe going back there as well you would have thought.

There's a few things being mentioned on twitter, nothing confirmed as of yet, hopefully there's no truth in it.

Caveman1

I dont really believe all the rumours of Falcao already having signed a pre contract agreement, but if Chelsea are selling Sturridge in Jan then you would think they definitely have a replacement lined up.

I dont understand people calling for Piazon to play up front on his own either, he's not a striker. hopefully we get to see him get some game time tonight he's definitely a real talent.

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Am I missing something here?

Liverpool sell us a non scoring striker for 50 million.
We then sell them our only scoring striker for 12 million
(leaving us with the non-scoring one who's had more comebacks than JC himself)

net profit to liverpool 38 milliion!

meanwhile Roman ships out Drogba and Anelka AND brings in agent Rafa whilst sacking the coach of the year who won him the one trophy he craves
Plus the other manager he sacked, is now doing very well thank you and is level on points with us managing an arch rival

Then we sign another 27 year old hot shot NEXT SUMMER for stupid money and wages with no resale value

How the heck is Roman a businessman?? :eek:

That makes no sense.

Liverpool sold us their prized assest at the time and top scorer who is now our top scorer and what we're doing is off loading Sturridge who hasnt managed a regular starting place at CF in his Chelsea career through 4 managers.

Sturridge isnt what people are making him out to be and 4 managers know this.

Also I wouldnt say AVB is doing very well, apart from the win at Old Trafford, Spurs have been very hit and miss and still sit behind us in the league.

That coach of the year award was from the country of his birth and isnt as viable, it means nothing really in the grand scheme of things unless people want to use it to beat Rafa with, which they will.

Roman has spent nearly 1.1 Billion on turning the club into a force and as been said, we're lucky he, at the moment doesnt seem to mind pumping money into what is essentially a black hole of, buy top players, top coaches, sack coaches, sell players and win trophies and repeat for the best part of a decade.

what a day

Caveman1 wrote: »

There's a few things being mentioned on twitter, nothing confirmed as of yet, hopefully there's no truth in it.

Apparently Barca were to hold a christmas dinner today with some reporters and fans but it was cancelled. Tito rumours seem to be true. I can see Pep coming back to help out there.

what a day

You all say Sturridge has no football awarness are wrong. Sturridge was made to look headless because of his attitude. Being pushed wide he decided to shoot every time he got the ball and would only pass the ball when forced to and this made him look poor. As for compairing his style of play to Andy Carrole is totally wrong, both totally different players and your right Suarez is much more gifted technically than Sturridge but i bet Sturridge would score more goals if he plays in front.

Id imagine Brendan will play Suarez on the left of Sturridge BTW.

Suarez has played 23 games this season and scored 13 goals
If Sturridge makes the move and playes as a striker watch how many goals he has after 23 games!

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

That makes no sense.

Liverpool sold us their prized assest at the time and top scorer who is now our top scorer and what we're doing is off loading Sturridge who hasnt managed a regular starting place at CF in his Chelsea career through 4 managers.

Sturridge isnt what people are making him out to be and 4 managers know this.

Also I wouldnt say AVB is doing very well, apart from the win at Old Trafford, Spurs have been very hit and miss and still sit behind us in the league.

That coach of the year award was from the country of his birth and isnt as viable, it means nothing really in the grand scheme of things unless people want to use it to beat Rafa with, which they will.

Roman has spent nearly 1.1 Billion on turning the club into a force and as been said, we're lucky he, at the moment doesnt seem to mind pumping money into what is essentially a black hole of, buy top players, top coaches, sack coaches, sell players and win trophies and repeat for the best part of a decade.

One thing is absolutely certain it is never boring being a Chelsea supporter. From the 1960's they are up down sacking managers nearly going bust looking at electric fences. Sacking managers doing well enough is nowt new really Tommy Doc and Dave Sexton were both doing well when sacked. Rudi and Luca were non too shabby neither.

Even when we were total muck on the pitch we had the best hooligans in perhaps the world to occupy our minds.

I suppose the main difference is up until now the new manager would always get a match or two's breathing space .

Sgt Pepper 64

GavRedKing wrote: »

That makes no sense.

Liverpool sold us their prized assest at the time and top scorer who is now our top scorer and what we're doing is off loading Sturridge who hasnt managed a regular starting place at CF in his Chelsea career through 4 managers.

Sturridge isnt what people are making him out to be and 4 managers know this.

Also I wouldnt say AVB is doing very well, apart from the win at Old Trafford, Spurs have been very hit and miss and still sit behind us in the league.

That coach of the year award was from the country of his birth and isnt as viable, it means nothing really in the grand scheme of things unless people want to use it to beat Rafa with, which they will.

Roman has spent nearly 1.1 Billion on turning the club into a force and as been said, we're lucky he, at the moment doesnt seem to mind pumping money into what is essentially a black hole of, buy top players, top coaches, sack coaches, sell players and win trophies and repeat for the best part of a decade.

Danny has been injured and hasnt been given a chance to play for us.
I'd bet if he started the same amount games instead of Torres, he would be scoring.

Lets also not forget, that he takes an English spot in our otherwise small squad as it is.
So, unless we do have someone lined up pretty quick, we are left with Torres who everyone is pretty much fed up with!

Of course I am not moaning about the money, it just seems money without a method.

Come Jan 1st, we will have 1 striker, and 2 proper midfielders (not counting the kids or Oscar etc)
Danny is on the BBC website now, so that looks close to happening!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20783179

GavRedKing

But most of the time Sturridge has played he hasnt shown any kind of awareness that makes the good players stand out from the best.

Hes not completly brain dead but hes certainly nowhere near as clued in as he should be, it doesnt matter if hes playing wide right or not he should still have a basic understanding of his role and his job for the team.

If he chooses not to do it, and it looks at times he hasnt he's got dropped.

No player is bigger then club and pulling a stroppy about playing in a less then favourable position shows the kind of professional he is.

I'd wish him well at Liverpool but a long term success I'm going to go out on a limb and say he wont be.

As Kess mentioned, the English player tax has basically put 50% on his valuation which is something we'll benefit from it.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Danny has been injured and hasnt been given a chance to play for us.
I'd bet if he started the same amount games instead of Torres, he would be scoring.

Debtable, as I said, hes gone through 4 managers and he's not been picked reguarly, let alone reguarly through the middle.

Lets also not forget, that he takes an English spot in our otherwise small squad as it is.

Which could add weight to the Walcott debate and him coming in.

So, unless we do have someone lined up pretty quick, we are left with Torres who everyone is pretty much fed up with!

Of course I am not moaning about the money, it just seems money without a method.

Come Jan 1st, we will have 1 striker, and 2 proper midfielders (not counting the kids or Oscar etc)
Danny is on the BBC website now, so that looks close to happening!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20783179

Possibily but its impossible to please everyone in here, yes we need another CF but I feel unless its Falcao there will be toys thrown out of the pram.

We've had it very good under Roman and the squad is one or two signings away from been complete, I just cant see those signings been made in January.

GavRedKing

Phoenix wrote: »

Will Rafa promote Piazon to play on the wing if he does go?

It certainly wont hinder his chances to make the bench more often until we bring in a CF.

Selling Sturridge before we have a replacement would be mental though, you just never know when a player (Torres) will pick up a ban/injury.

Sgt Pepper 64

GavRedKing wrote: »

Debtable, as I said, hes gone through 4 managers and he's not been picked reguarly, let alone reguarly through the middle.

Which could add weight to the Walcott debate and him coming in.



Possibily but its impossible to please everyone in here, yes we need another CF but I feel unless its Falcao there will be toys thrown out of the pram.

We've had it very good under Roman and the squad is one or two signings away from been complete, I just cant see those signings been made in January.

its not about pleasing people, its about the fact that our thin squad is already looking thinner, particualry short upfront and in midfield.

Liverpool (and us actually) have shown that even having only 2 strikers leaves you short when one is injured

i also think we are far from being one or two signings away from being complete

Rafa speaks!

Benitez also revealed discussions over possible January transfer targets, saying: “I was talking with the people around [technical director] Michael Emenalo about my ideas.
“They have their own ideas too but my role is just to improve the job that I have and if we can do something in January that would be good.
“It is not my job to have targets. I have ideas but the club has targets.

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

its not about pleasing people, its about the fact that our thin squad is already looking thinner, particualry short upfront and in midfield.

Liverpool (and us actually) have shown that even having only 2 strikers leaves you short when one is injured

i also think we are far from being one or two signings away from being complete

Rafa speaks!

Benitez also revealed discussions over possible January transfer targets, saying: “I was talking with the people around [technical director] Michael Emenalo about my ideas.
“They have their own ideas too but my role is just to improve the job that I have and if we can do something in January that would be good.
“It is not my job to have targets. I have ideas but the club has targets.

Excellent. :rolleyes:

Another manager not allowed to identify who he wants.

Am I shocked though, nope, not one bit.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Sgt Pepper 64

Phoenix wrote: »

So what team do ye reckon will be out tonight vs Leeds?

Bertrand, Danny, Oscar
short in midfield and defence (cahill wont play cos its his birthday anyway!)

solarith

Surely Marin !

Sgt Pepper 64

solarith wrote: »

Surely Marin !

If he cant get a game tonight, he might as well start walking back to Germany!

Caveman1

I seen both George Saville & Nathan Ake sent tweets saying game day CFC v Leeds, I would like to see Saville get a run out, it would be interesting to see if Ake was brought in at CB & Luiz played in CM. Most likely not the case but something I'd like to see happen.

Kess73

what a day wrote: »

You all say Sturridge has no football awarness are wrong. Sturridge was made to look headless because of his attitude. Being pushed wide he decided to shoot every time he got the ball and would only pass the ball when forced to and this made him look poor. As for compairing his style of play to Andy Carrole is totally wrong, both totally different players and your right Suarez is much more gifted technically than Sturridge but i bet Sturridge would score more goals if he plays in front.

Id imagine Brendan will play Suarez on the left of Sturridge BTW.

Suarez has played 23 games this season and scored 13 goals
If Sturridge makes the move and playes as a striker watch how many goals he has after 23 games!

Read my post. I did not compare Sturridge with Carroll in terms of style of play. I said that Liverpool last season tried to fit a player who was regarded ( wrongly) as a physical powerhouse into a less than direct style of play. That flopped because Carroll is a pretty dumb footballer and also because he is not a physical powerhouse on a regular basis.

Sturridge I called a player with great physical qualities and unlike Carroll the physical qualities that Sturridge is noted for actually exist.

The two players that I did compare Sturridge to in terms of playing style were Djibril Cisse and Milan Baros.

But like Carroll I think Sturridge is a pretty dumb player (in footballing terms) who does not read the game well, and who does not suit any team that tries to use guile and creativity over direct play more often than not.

In a team that would play to the strengths of a player who genuinely excellent physical qualities, I think Sturridge would do very well. Liverpool are not such a team though, and if you look through the Liverpool squad and at how Liverpool generally play, then a player who would thrive on direct play coming at him through the centre is going to be starved of service unless he is the type that can link up very well with wide players as well as read the runs of other players very well. Sturridge for me does not link up very well, and does not read runs very well.

Lukker-

I'd imagine they have at least 2 transfers already lined up if Sturridge is let leave.

Sgt Pepper 64

Lukker- wrote: »

I'd imagine they have at least 2 transfers already lined up if Sturridge is let leave.

more from Rafa

RAFA Benitez will be given a treasure trove to spend in January by Chelsea, but the catalyst for the spree will be the selling of striker Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool for £12m.
With Sturridge the only cover for striker Fernando Torres at the moment, the move would see the London club splash the cash on a replacement or even two.
The Spaniard confirmed last night he will discuss transfer targets with the club's hierarchy later this week and a move for Atletico Madrid's coveted goalscorer Radamel Falcao is looking an increasingly likely prospect.
Chelsea would probably have to trigger Falcao's £48m release clause to have any chance of landing the South American and the funds from any Sturridge sale would be useful.
It is understood that Sturridge could leave for Anfield in the early stages of the January transfer window with the deal likely to be wrapped up by the end of the second week of the month.
Benitez has not used Sturridge once since his arrival. At his press conference yesterday, the Spaniard admitted there were "conversations with different options" for Sturridge's future.
The player's chosen destination is Anfield.
Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, is keen to add to his flimsy striking resources and Sturridge would fit into the youth structure that Fenway are trying to bring in at Anfield.
Luis Suarez is the club's only fit senior centre-forward after Andy Carroll was loaned to West Ham United but not replaced, to Rodgers' frustration, and summer signing Fabio Borini sidelined with a broken foot.
Jonjo Shelvey and Raheem Sterling have been deputising in attacking roles but Rodgers knows he needs further quality in the final third to make a sustained assault on the top half of the table.
Rodgers also hopes to sign Blackpool's 20-year-old winger Tom Ince in January, 16 months after Liverpool sold him to the Championship club and a £4m loss to the Anfield club.
Compelled
If Sturridge goes, Chelsea will be compelled to buy new strikers. They are almost as limited in their options as Liverpool, with only one fit senior forward, Torres, who is not anywhere near the form of Suarez.
Beyond the Spaniard, they only have Victor Moses, signed in the summer from Wigan Athletic, but he has mainly been used on the wing.
Benitez confirmed yesterday that after tonight's game with Leeds United in the League Cup, but before the opening of the transfer window, he would have time to discuss transfer targets with the club hierarchy.
"We have time before January," Benitez said when asked when he would be planning the club's strategy for new signings.
"We have just arrived home (from Japan) yesterday and then (we have) another game.
"Hopefully we have two or three days after this game, and then we have plenty of time. We are still working, the people in charge are working, and we will talk about names."
Chelsea may well pursue Falcao, the third top-scorer in La Liga with 14 goals already this season behind Messi and Ronaldo.
Benitez may also decide to recruit in central midfield. Chelsea's options are limited there too, with Oriol Romeu injured, John Obi Mikel suspended and Frank Lampard only just back from injury.

mike65

Some nostalgia for Blues fans on ITV4 tonight 8 pm

Chelsea: Champions of Europe
A look back at the Blues' victorious 2011/12 Champions League campaign, which saw them overcome Bayern Munich in the final after recording some memorable victories on the way