Agreed, I admit I dont know as much as I should about Mata , however , players adapt to circumstances, so don't be suprised if that's exactly the role he takes up and don't be suprised if he finds a way to excel at it.

Sarabia really needs to accomplish something to earn his reputation.Hopefully he gets to start at getafe so we can all get a more solid read on him than imagining our own personal fantasies of what he is.

im suprised liverpool let him go, hes been excellent for liverpool since hes been there.

whos gonna take his spot now ?

all Merieles goals will come from Volleys...that's just a fact lol

michael1 wrote:im suprised liverpool let him go, hes been excellent for liverpool since hes been there.

whos gonna take his spot now ?

His spot on the bench? Shelvey, probably. Or Henderson once Gerrard returns. Fact is that Meireles lost his starting spot this season even before Gerrard was back in the side.


Raul is a good player but he's too shy in the tackle to play the role in CM for us and we now have better options for the wide areas and attacking midfield spot. He wanted a pay raise that was part of a gentleman's agreement with the previous regime. He didn't get it. He asked to go. We let him because we finally have depth int he area to handle it.

Even with the sale of Raul we have Spearing, Lucas, Shelvey, Adam, Henderson, Gerrard, and Coady who can cover his "preferred" CM place. In the wide areas, where he spent host of his time here, we have Downing, Henderson, Maxi, Gerrard, Shelvey, Kuyt, Suarez, Bellamy, and, in a pinch, Sterling, Suso (not his best position, mind), and probably Johnson.


I'm sure Raul's movement and ability to keep possession will help Chelsea but he's not a Modric-type and he's not going to give the creativity they were crying out for in CM. Only time will tell which said got the better deal here but I'm honestly not that upset or worried.

I love this transfer. He and Mata will work wonders for Chelsea's creativity. I thought he was one of the main reasons Liverpool finished how they did last year, and am very suprised they let him go as he links up with Suarez beautifully, I think he can do the same with Mata.

ragbirjosh wrote:Agreed, I admit I dont know as much as I should about Mata , however , players adapt to circumstances, so don't be suprised if that's exactly the role he takes up and don't be suprised if he finds a way to excel at it.

Sarabia really needs to accomplish something to earn his reputation.Hopefully he gets to start at getafe so we can all get a more solid read on him than imagining our own personal fantasies of what he is.

It's not imagination, I have seen enough of Sarabia with Castilla and Spain youth team to say this already. I have seen him playing SS, AM, LW, RW, ACM/CM, and he can do it all. Pace, check; Vision, check; Technique, check; Dribbling, check; passing, check; game in closed space, check; tracks back, check. He scores goals, he assists, and he playmakes.

Some others can confirm this, he is of the same pedigree as players like Silva, or Iniesta, at least in terms of playing style. He is bigger, but has a low center of gravity. Whether he will make it or not is another story.

LOL i went out at 10:30 and completely missed this.
What did he do? Bang Kelly Dalglish? Hes the 2nd best midfielder behind Gerrard and hes shun like this.

Great signing for Chelsea and not so much of a loss for Liverpool. They have Adam, Henderson and Gerrard in the "midfield department". They won't miss him.

What I find strange is how he became from Hard Worker with good Technique and Passing to a Playmaker in EPL.

Disappointed Meireles has been sold more so that he has been sold to a rival no 2 ways about it.But it seems a financial decision he is already 28 wont get much regular games with no European football this season so getting 12mil (raising to 15m) for him seems a sensible decision.We can invest this money in a youngster next window .

As for whether its a good footballing decision it all depends on how good Adam turns out to be.Early signs are good though.

cyberman wrote:LOL i went out at 10:30 and completely missed this.
What did he do? Bang Kelly Dalglish? Hes the 2nd best midfielder behind Gerrard and hes shun like this.

Actually that's Lucas. Raul wasn't even starting for us.

Was he not your player of the year?
He just got dropped out of the blue, was it indiscipline? Did he cause any trouble?

The transfer fee was 12m pounds.

And if you're expecting Meireles to start then expect to be disappointed. Ramires will continue to play, again reading the comments above shows how under-rated he is, and he will not replace Lampard (but McEachran should!!).

I'm happy with this signing as along as Villas-Boas doesn't consider him ahead of McEachran and as long as he offers something unlike his former companion Benayoun.

cyberman wrote:Was he not your player of the year?
He just got dropped out of the blue, was it indiscipline? Did he cause any trouble?

Lucas was our player of the year.Meireles played as a left winger for us last year and since we have signed a left winger he seems to have been dropped.

Ramires is a decent player, stop selling us that pipe dream. Chelsea need players with brain and vision to run things from deep and feed torres, running can only take you so far.

Ramires is a really really underrated player.. Meireles is about adding depth to the squad IMO. He wont prolly start many games.

cyberman wrote:Was he not your player of the year?
He just got dropped out of the blue, was it indiscipline? Did he cause any trouble?

No, that was Lucas.

See, what happens in transfer windows is that players are bought and brought into the club. When those players come in other players who are either not as good or don't fit the system as well are dropped for the new players. Meireles is a very good player but his habit of pulling out of 50/50's and reluctance to make tackles mean he doesn't fit well in Kenny's CM positions and, with the summer purchases we now have better players that are more suited to the wide roles. He wanted a raise, he wanted to start, so he wanted a move. He's 28 and we're unlikely to get an offer as good for him again, and we now have the depth to deal with his moving. So he was allowed to leave.


Life goes on.

I honestly never rated mierles highly. Jack of all trades but a master of none. Cant tackle bad attitude fitness issues. As a squad player I feel liverpool have a much more effective man in bellamy. Not that I would let him go for that amount of money, I would asked for strurridge or something and taken less money :p

Meireles has a bad attitude but Bellamy is a good squad man?

Fairly certain Sturridge wasn't available this summer, even in trade.

Let's not let sour grapes cloud our vision. Meireles had his issues and doesn't really fit Kenny's preferred system but he is a very good midfielder and for his part (as far as I understand it) he handled himself well at Liverpool, the last minute transfer request aside.

I realize Bellamny has had his past however he's a much more effective guy off the bench for kennys liverpool. Imagining dealing with suarez for 70 minutes and then having bellamy come on. or dealing with both from the start as he could push for a start. and provide more support for carrol.

Fair enough that was a bit unrealistic on my part.

I agree very good midfielder however he did have his frailties and i feeel the current liverpool side can make do without him

Still pissed at Chelsea, regardless of me getting over Raul.

RedOranje wrote:

michael1 wrote:im suprised liverpool let him go, hes been excellent for liverpool since hes been there.

whos gonna take his spot now ?

His spot on the bench? Shelvey, probably. Or Henderson once Gerrard returns. Fact is that Meireles lost his starting spot this season even before Gerrard was back in the side.


Raul is a good player but he's too shy in the tackle to play the role in CM for us and we now have better options for the wide areas and attacking midfield spot. He wanted a pay raise that was part of a gentleman's agreement with the previous regime. He didn't get it. He asked to go. We let him because we finally have depth int he area to handle it.

Even with the sale of Raul we have Spearing, Lucas, Shelvey, Adam, Henderson, Gerrard, and Coady who can cover his "preferred" CM place. In the wide areas, where he spent host of his time here, we have Downing, Henderson, Maxi, Gerrard, Shelvey, Kuyt, Suarez, Bellamy, and, in a pinch, Sterling, Suso (not his best position, mind), and probably Johnson.


I'm sure Raul's movement and ability to keep possession will help Chelsea but he's not a Modric-type and he's not going to give the creativity they were crying out for in CM. Only time will tell which said got the better deal here but I'm honestly not that upset or worried.

fair enough, i thought he had a pretty good season for livo but as u pointed out, u guys got a bit of depth now to handle.

should do well at chelsea though

Last night I was a bit pissed at the transfer. I think it was the timing really that pissed me off, but realistically this must have been going on behind the scenes for a while.

I like Raul, he's a cool-ass-mofo, but at the end of the day we sold an ageing bench player for 15m so that's fine by me.

*bleep* you Chelsea.

Why are they so desperate for our players ..

Im 100% sure we would have got the same amount for Raul next year too.

Oh come on no need to swear.. its not like you guys cant deal without him..

You already have so many midfielders...have to get rid of some