johnnythefirst

I also laugh at the "but he'll get less space and scoring opportunities at Chelsea" argument popping up occasionally. It makes absolutely no sense. You think every team plays defensively only at the Bridge? As I said before, there's a much better midfield behind him here. Also, with a beast like Lukaku up front keeping defenders busy, there's less of them to look at for example Hazard. As I also said before, even Torres gets his share of scoring opportunities here, and when he's on the pitch, you're playing with 10.

I feel that a lot of people on here are overstating his weaknesses and underrating his strengths. Obviously his first touch isn't perfect, but it isn't horrendous. It's more hit than miss. None of his qualities are world class separately, but combined he presents a very specific set of skills. He's a giant with amazing speed and power and a more than decent technique for his size. He makes clever and decisive runs and defenders have to keep a constant eye on him because giving him a tiny bit of space could be deadly. He's at the right spot at the right moment several times each match, and for a striker "who doesn't create chances for others" six assists in half a season is not that bad. Could he play in the current Chelsea system is another matter. I think he could. I mean, the team is still winning and creating chances with Torres upfront. Think of all the perfect Hazard passes he wasted. Lukaku would have scored at least half of those, and would probably be in a better position most of the time as well.

I think he fought for a spot and lost. Can't blame someone for wanting to play. Who exactly was he going to replace in the squad?

In my opinion Ronaldo (Brazil) was the most complete striker of his generation. Before his first major knee injury in 1998 he was practically unstoppable: Killer speed and acceleration, fast, effective dribbling, great runs and deadly finishing. Then, after four years of injury after injury, he scored eight goals at the WC 2002 with practically no match rhythm at all. He also had to completely alter his style to still be efficient, since he had trouble playing the energetic way he did in his teens and early twenties. Still became multiple top scorer at Real and still scored three goals as a fat half-injured bastard on the 2006 World Cup. I wonder what his stats would have been if he didn't suffer those constant knee injuries...

Well, God bless his kind soul. ;-)

Damn, some hard words for Ronaldinho there. He's actually not that bad at all right now. Wasn't he voted best player the South American leagues or so last year? I think he was just tired of Europe and the stress it brought...

These are emotional times indeed!

It's french dude, it's hard for me as well.

It's not fair to compare anyone to Messi. He's just 26 and he practically broke every record out there. Even if he never wins a world cup, he'll be seen as the best of all time 10 years from now. Actually, he might even still be playing ten years from now. Scary.

Just scored again.

That standing ovation for Didier was fantastic. Very, very well done people... :-)

Seriously, why have newspapers if they're just going to suck all of the content out of their thumbs. Just look at the way they wrote it...

Yet he was not in the squad. And thus had the smart idea to leave for another year to a club where he'd be the main striker. Also, this sort of thing happens a lot.

That makes no sense.

lol. We live in a democracy. Either everyone has freedom of speech, or nobody has. This is quite a vital freedom of the society we live in. His 'boss' on the other hand is free to fire him over it as far as I'm concerned, if he really can't handle his naughty naughty words. I'm sure he'll find another job somewhere in either some sports bar or lets see, basically every other club in the league. What's next, telling Zlatan to shut up and behave? Football would become quite a boring game indeed.

Another thing I don't get is people on a website completely built on opinions disliking players solely because they give their opinions. Everyone should be able to say whatever the hell he/she wants. Words don't hurt. But that's a completely different matter.

If you twist his words just a tiny bit more, you'll say he said he can walk on rainbows and crap gold. This guy wants to BECOME one of the best strikers in the world. He WANTS to play Champions League. He WANTS to outscore the Chelsea strikers to prove he's worth putting in the team. Never did he say he was the world's greatest or entitled to whatever. FFs, he idolizes practically every world class striker of today. He just doesn't want to spend another season on the bench, which is a reasonable dream.

Well, I guess he's back.

Also, he played his 100th match for Chelsea today they said, in 1,5 seasons... Seriously, that can't be healthy right?

I don't think Wilmots will bench him the entire match, but I don't think he'll play more than 45 minutes either.

Keep Hazard, give them Musonda for a year. It'll give him a lot of playing time and the fans get to see their "wonderboy" play for the team that trained him as a kid. I'd like the idea.

That's a pretty weird list mate. Messi is possibly one of the world's hardest working players. You never see him partying or not focussing on football. And C.Ronaldo is not a natural talent? :-s I see where you're going, but I don't really follow. You can be a natural, but it won't make you "great". Hard work makes you great. If the players in your first list didn't work like animals they'd be nowhere near their current level. They'd be Freddy Adu.

I hate real as a team, so I hope he'll never leave the PL. But for some reason they practically always succeed in getting the players they want. It will depend on Hazard himself I guess. They'll need a new young superstar once Ronaldo is 32 or so, Messi is out of the question, so is Neymar. Who else comes into view then? They will at least try.

Not sure about that. Their money reserve is vast and they were able to sign some of the absolute biggest names. They may get to that level pretty soon. Still, keep him. ;-)

The question is, how much longer can you keep loaning him out. Two months ago, I saw him come back, but since then, the level of the team has drastically risen. Now I think he'll be sold and a world class striker will be coming with the money of his and Mata's transfer...