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I like Robben he should come to Arsenal and solve our winger problem.

I liked Robben and would be sad to see him leave, but that would only do good to Chelsea’s future. Let me list out few points supporting this assumption:

1) Someone earlier mentioned that Real would probably pay as much as Chelsea. So money is not as much of a factor. Nor Real are a club to be held in high esteem based on their recent performance. 1 la league title in 4 years. Have not reached semi finals of Champions league in seasons.
Accepted Real were great “Once Upon A Time”. So why should Robben join such a club where he would get no silver-ware for sure.
Unlike in Chelsea he would not have to fight for his place in Real. He would be an automatic first choice starter in Real. As the only notable Real midfielders are Diarra,Guti,Gago,Reyes and Higuaín. Out of these, two (Diarra & Gago) are defensive midfielders and would do more of a holding role.
Instead in Chelsea, Jose has already mentioned his plan to stick to his preferred 4-3-3 formation unless injuries force his hand. Hence the only place he can play is among the upfront 3 which would constitute two strikers. For the midfield 3 would have the likes of Essein, Ballack, Lampard (I am not sure), Malouda, Sidwell, Mikel, SWP and Makalele. This puts Robben in direct competition for the one remaining place upfront with Joe Cole or probably Lampard. So he will not be a granted a starting place everytime. If he slips up a time too many, a worthy substitution would be the easily available. There would be no bed-in period in a match. So everytime he walks out he will have the constant pressure to keep his place.
2) Robben’s exit would leave the youngsters to make a one odd appearance in the premier league matches which would benefit their development immensely.
3) Robben has not been that much of an asset in Champions league matches too. As could be seen in his world cup appearances. I don’t imply he is a flop at big stages but just seems to need too much time to adjust.
4) It would up to an extent solve Jose’ problem of plenty as mentioned earlier.
5) Now this may be selfish thinking but it would give more space and playing time to Joe Cole. Robben is an out and out winger hence his passes can never be as penetrative and clear cut goal scoring opportunities as those of someone like Cesc Fabrigass. Arsenal thus concentrates more on taking ball upfront from centre of the fields than wings and it has paid rich dividends. Joe Cole and Ballack for one have such abilities to slip passes from central midfield or similar positions. True we cannot have the game centered towards central midfield and need wings to split play. For this purpose we have SWP and Malouda who would do quite a good job there.
6) If you don’t want to stay, you can not be counted upon and its better if you leave.

What would we be lacking if Robben leaves:
1) Robben’s pace and trickery.
2) His constant un-nerving and softening of the full backs.
3) A player who was only 23 and had the potential to become someone really big.

Now all of those attributes except the third aspect can be compensated by the present squad to some extent. And if you now include the probable new signings of the likes Drenthe any remaining doubts should be cleared and put back the smile anticipating the start of new season which i am sure would make us the champions once more.

Fab.u wud lack the title.titles staying at old trafford wer it belongs

Seriously, Chelsea is a much much better team when Robben is playing. He is much better a winger than Ronaldo is. And you’re hearing from an United fan!
Yes, he’s injury prone so Chelsea cant really rely on him much like how United cant rely on Saha.
But when Robben is playing, he simply unlocks defence with such ease. He reminds me so much of a young Ryan Giggs.

I don’t care much for Chelsea, therefore I don’t care if Chelsea needs Robben or not…but… I would love to have seen Robben at Old Trafford. I still believe that with him and Ronaldo operating our wings, we would really have been flying high.

I think Robben’s value as a player is extremely undervalued over the last two years because of his multiple injuries. When Robben is on form, he is as good if not better than Ronaldo in some areas.

Robben is extremely quick, but I would rate his technical ability and arsenal of tricks to Ronaldo’s or even better. Robben has to utilize these more because he isn’t as fast overall. I believe him to also be underestimated as a shooter, as he usually distributes the ball and we never see that he really does have a lot of pop from either foot.

I beleive Robben to be devoted more to defense than Ronaldo, and a lot of other wingers. Whereas Ronaldo will easily go down and stay down while the other team counterattacks, Robben is much more tenacious off the ball and will fight to win it back immediately.

To each his own, but Robben is almost as valuble to Chelsea as ROnaldo is to United. When Robben is on the pitch, you see a major difference in the atacking prowess of the Blues. We would definitely miss him, but the improved play of both SWP and Joe Cole, as well as the signing of Malouda make his possible departure a little easier to swallow, although a club never likes losing a world class player.

Liam, I never once mentioned the word diving in my psot, so stop trying to be a Manc hero for Ronaldo by putting words in my mouth.

Robben and Ronaldo go to ground just as much, that’s a given. But if you watch the attack of both teams, when Ronaldo loses the ball he rarely chases it right away, especially if he thinks he was fouled (we’lls ay he’s 50% ight, 50% wrong). Robben, on the other hand, is more of a balanced winger, who is not as good offensively but is better defensively than Ronaldo. Because Robben isn’t as fast, he more often than not attempts to get the balls he loses back right away because he isn’t going to be able to chase down ballwinners in the open field. It’s playing to your strengths, but if I want defense on the wing, I’m taking Robben. Offensively, I want Ronaldo.

I’m not turning this into a debate between Ronaldo and Robben it serves no purpose. The point of my comparison was to highlight the importance of Robben’s skill to Chelsea and the value fo his loss if he leaves.

However, I am no turning

Going down to ground and diving are not the same. Diving is the art of intentionally faking a foul or deliberately flailing on a petty foul in order to obtain a dead ball situation.

Going to ground is totally different; players either have the choice to fight through shoving, pushing, attempted tackles and the like in an effort to keep the ball, or they feel the need to discontinue these efforts when hit (whether it be fouls or not) and choose to give up posession. Basically, we are talking about determination. A lot of these instances are fouls but they will never be called, so players either keep fighting or are fouled within limits and go down legitmately on something that will never be whistled

If you look at Ronaldo and Robben, they do not dive as often as you may think. Ronaldo usually fights through a couple challenges and gives up when he feels there is a foul. The same is true for Robben; I am saying however, that Robben fihts through more of these challenges and when he loses the ball he right away fights for it, because that is what is demanded by Mourinho of his wingers.