Chelsea

[antonnn]

That's why he's a DM. He actually started off as a AM playmaker, which means he does have a good passing range, but we've sorta stifled his progress in that regard. He has the ability to be a lesser version of Pirlo(due to his past as an AM, just like Pirlo!), and I do wonder if Ancelotti will try that. If he could mould Mikel into a deep lying playmaker he's officially a legend, cause at the end of the day Mikel is bigger, stronger an better at defending than Pirlo, so overall he could end up better than Pirlo because he could be a good playmaker(not as good as Pirlo, but good enough) AND a good DM, meaning he won't need a person to help him out as much like Pirlo needed Gattuso.

[Snyde]

Yeah but it's completely annoying when he takes shots. Someone just needs to go and tell him: "you are rubbish at shooting, stop doing it!"

Though I can totally see why no one has dared to yet.

[antonnn]

Well to be fair he takes like 1 shot every 3 games so it's not too much of an issue, but when he does go to shoot we all know it won't end well.

[Snyde]

Haha, fair enough, I guess I notice it too much 'cos my friend (chelsea fan) keeps moaning about it constantly.

[antonnn]

Well Carvalho is staying, he's apparently been won over by Ancelotti and is looking forward to the new season. If he can stay injury free it'll be good. Still think Deco should go though, but we'll see.

[VivaBarca]

Well done, kept your best defender. Deco also on form could be very handy during ACON and incase of injuries.

[antonnn]

Yeah I think that's why Ancelotti wants to keep him, though if we end up getting Pirlo, Deco is good as gone IMO. Personally I think Pirlo would do better in the EPL than Deco but I think in the end he'd still end up a failure, plus with Pirlo in the team we wouldn't have a proper DM(starting XI) and that could kill us, it would force Essien to do more of a protection job for Pirlo and it's better to not have Essien on any type of leash.

[JALJM]

I really like Mikel. For the future, I'd probably have him over any other DM in the EPL. He showed he had pretty good vision when used to be an attacking playmaker for the U20s, but for Chelsea his game is all about defending and making the simple passes. I wonder if he'll progress much while he's there...hoping the best for him anyhow...

[antonnn]

He's been making very steady progress ever since he's come. Everyone bitches about his red cards but I don't think he got a single one last season, and he was actually our best player for the first half of the season but once the whole team started fucking up he lost form badly, hopefully he can regain it this season cause he was fantastic when in top form. One problem is his giving away of fouls too close to the box, but other than that he's quite effective and he's great at keeping possession under pressure(I've seen him hold off 2 guys at once and still get the ball away to another player, either that or they end up fouling him cause they can't outmuscle him, his strength is amazing).

[antonnn]

Looks like Ancelotti shares my views about Mikel, he said that he sees Mikel as the player who can be our playmaker and by the sounds of things it seems he's going to encourage him to be a deep-lying one. If he can do this right we'll have one hell of a player on our hands since Mikel is a much better defender than Pirlo could ever be.

We've also got the founder of MilanLabs on our books, hopefully can can make a ChelseaLabs.

Meanwhile Di Santo is off to Blackburn. Hopefully he gets games, and he should considering Santa Cruz and Derbyshire are gone.

[Beast]

Pirlo would flop in the EPL... his games is based on slow build up.. by the time he decide to pass the ball he will have 2-3 players around him.
he still has his freekicks but it will be a waste of money

[antonnn]

Agreed, we really don't need him. Hopefully we don't pay some fucking ridiculous price for a flop ala Sheva.

[Beast]

u won't pay a lot he is 30 year old Anton .. it will add another problem to your aging squad

[antonnn]

20m euro isn't a lot? That's the price being mooted. For a guy who is already past his best for like 2 years now, 20m euro is HEAPS, considering we bought Deco for like 10m too.

[AnfieldEd]

Pirlo is a waste of money considering you have Deco who is similar in build and stature.