MrExcalibur100

assists? incisiveness in the final third? it's not just goals.

Aguero spectacular but injured, Bale questionable inclusion but understandable, Reus decent but not as good as last year, Falcao injured and not as good as last year. But all these guys you mention are world class. That list was more on "current" form if anything.

You can't prove Hazard is inconsistent. It's a ridiculous tag that has been placed on him from his first season at the club, which was unfair in the first place, since it was his first season. I just can't understand how anyone who has watched this guy play this season can call him inconsistent when he's been anything but that. Maybe you don't understand that players sometimes have not so good games and you confuse that with inconsistency. That's one of the main differences between this season and last. The others are intensity in his play and defensive contribution. Those two are all about Mourinho. Hazard wants to destroy teams for 90 mins now. He hardly ever "coasts" in games any more. And nowadays, when he get's tired, like against Spurs recently, he has developed his game to simply drop deep and pull the string from there. If not for Suarez, POTY would have been fairly straightforward, but Suarez has been a top 3 player in the world and deserves it. I doubt he'll be as good next season when his team play in Europe though.

Therein lies the problem I guess. Nitpicking games to prove your point. (1) You are quick to forget Hazard turning Rafinha then sprinting into Bayern's half before slotting in Schurrle who crossed to Torres, GOAL. (2) What about his solo effort in that same game? What about Hull City? Did he not provide for us when we needed him? Remember how rubbish we were in that game. (3) Against Sunderland, which was one of the best solo performances of any CFC player I have ever seen, on par with Jimmy Floyd against Spurs.. did Hazard not step up in that match? (4) Against Liverpool, who provided the inspiration for the comeback again, with that ridiculous curler past Mignolet? These are BIG matches. (5) Against Man City Matic and our back four were immense, while Eden terrorized them. Their fans were gushing about him on their forums after that game. (6) Swansea in the league? Won us that game on his own. We were SHIT. Aren't these "difficult" matches in which Chelsea were not playing well? (7) It was Hazard who provided the spark against Fulham in the second half too, alongside Schurrle, who was ruthless with his finishing. We were SHIT in that game. I can go on, but I'll stop at 7. .Was Bale's last season any more or less impressive than what Eden has done this season? And Bale was pretty "inconsistent" that season too. He was average for the entire first half of it. Ok, he scored more goals in the league that season (and will) than Eden will in this one, but Eden has already scored a lot and assisted (including chances created) much more than Bale did. And Hazard is not even THAT type of shoot-on-sight winger that Ronaldo, Robben or Bale are. He is more like a Ribery type, but HAS taken games by the scruff of the neck and won us many points on his own this season. Too ask for any more is unreasonable and unfair. The fact is that others need to step up. The Brazilians especially who have been poor this season. "I wasn't even talking about his quality and I said I'm quite okay with him having ups and downs" You said it yourself, Barbara. We aren't even disagreeing with each other.

Yaya is a good shout, but the guy sometimes doesn't show up against the "lesser" teams. It's a big complaint that Man City fans have against him. Lahm on the other hand plays on the same level every time I watch him and he's been the best full-back in the world since God knows when. Another thing about Toure. He's dominated us in the past when our midfield was "Maticless" and when we had no managers (sorry AVB and RDM) but he against strong teams, really strong teams with strong midfields, he rarely stands out. He was rubbish against Bayern in the CL, a non-factor in both legs against Barca, Matic matched him in that classic league match and I don't remember him being a factor against Liverpool too. He is a bit of a flat-track bully.. There's no doubt he's one of the best midfielders in the world, but I'll have Vidal ahead of him, any time.

Methinks you overrate Bale too much. When was the last time he ever did anything worthwhile against any good team? Plus he is pretty inconsistent himself as he disappears completely from games when he coasts too much. Plus Bale is 24 and was only considered a world-class player in his last year at Spurs, while Hazard has been world-class since he was 21. And saying Neymar is just as inconsistent (Hazard is not even an inconsistent player, ffs) as Hazard is ridiculous. Neymar first and foremost is a pretty overrated player. I have watched many games of his, and I fail too see anything special about him. He is not in the same class as Hazard whose talent level is in the same realm as the Zidane's and Iniesta's of this world. Neymar is an improved version of Robinho plus he is the biggest diver I have ever seen play football and I'm not exaggerating. Even Brazilians think he's overrated. You just have to read comments on sites like Globoesporte to see what I mean. Hazard has 17 goals this season (and will score more before it's over). He has created more chances for his teammates than any other player in EUROPE! And he is not even an archetypal playmaker. Playmaking is not his number 1 asset. I find that incredible really. That's a Messi-like statistic. You talk of time-frames but how many players perform consistently well for an ENTIRE season? Did Bale perform well in every month when he won POTY last season? The guy had one fantastic half-season and won the award. The only attacking players that I know of that have changed the landscape of football understanding and have performed at an incredible level for an entire season are Messi and Cristiano. Zidane was "inconsistent" (going by your very rigid understanding of the word). So was Figo, Stoichkov, Rivaldo, Laudrup, Nedved and so on. Hazard might have been inconsistent in his first season in English football, but that's because it was his first season in the hardest league in the world, playing for a team in disarray. Nani is an inconsistent player not Hazard. Guarin is an inconsistent player not Hazard. You can't be one of the best in the business and be inconsistent. Plus this is a player that just turned 23 in January. No other young player in the world can match his consistency level. Not Gotze, not Isco, not Neymar, Moura, Verratti or Alcantara. The only young player that can match it is Pogba, but you see, Pogba's style of play and position (CM) makes it "easier" for him to be consistently brilliant. Hazard's style of play is very risky, but he still has the consistency, level-headedness and intelligence to maintain his level.

For me he is one of the top 10 best players in the world. (1) Messi (2) Suarez (3) Ronaldo (4) Ibrahimovic (5) Iniesta (6) Hazard (7) Aguero (8) Vidal (9) Thiago Silva (10) Lahm My list is a little top heavy with attacking players, but these guys always get all the limelight anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJQ9AWwnA2Q&list=UU-KQIG4-dyR1kIHCQFOJ-hQ Pretty awesome compilation for an awesome player.

Mandzukic is overrated, I watch him a lot. His goalscoring record is impressive, but it's easy to score goals when you lead the line for Bayern in the Bundesliga. A Bayern that smash everybody 5,6,-0. Costa on the other hand is superb. But we need both Costa and Lukaku fighting for the number 1 spot, not "either or".

Beat me to it. Matic should have been in there.

http://www.starsports.com/football/columns/columnist=117/articleid=1317956/index.html#chelsea-swallowing-pride-signing-matic-paying-dividends Good piece on Nemanja "spider" Matic.

He has 2 goals and 1 assist in 20 matches. That's ridiculous for an attacking player who plays for Chelsea. He does everything else so well, but once he gets near the 18 yard box, he looks clueless. He needs to do a lot of work with his incisiveness in the final third if he wants to be considered a top player.

The jersey thing wasn't clever, but these interviews are done immediately after games, so it's either he has a shirt on or not. He can do more, yes he can, but so could Ibrahimovic yesterday. The thing is we played well in the first half and as a consequence, Eden was our best player. We were poor in the 2nd and he faded away. Football is a team game afterall

It's not about blue-tinted glasses, it's about common sense. Hazard has been nothing short of world class this season and has been statistically one of the best wingers in the world. He has created the most chances (84) of any player in Europe's top 5 leagues. Those numbers you post for him, you post it like it's nothing, but are his numbers any more inferior or superior to the likes of Reus, Bale, Robben, Ribery and other world-class wingers? No. And those guys play for top-heavy teams in league where their teams are by far the strongest. Hazard has had to deal with the shit house called Torres all season. Can you imagine a player with so many chances created only having 8 assists all season? Plus Hazard already has 17 goals this season. Ronaldo had 20 goals in THAT season where he fired United to the title (2006/2007). Hazard is also a big game player. Munich, Liverpool, Man City.... even today, he was by far our best attacking player in the first half and struck the post with an incredible volley on his weaker foot from an impossible angle. Can you imagine the havoc this guy would have wrecked if he played for PSG against us (i.e a team that dominated possession in big games?) We have the best young player in the world playing for us. (Neymar, Gotze, Isco and Pogba) all fantastic, I watch them a lot, so I know, but they don't have shit on Eden. And I'm not one of these guys that thinks every Chelsea player is so amazing. I try and be objective in my views and state facts based on statistics. And not just about statistics. His style of play is so good to watch and I hear he is better to watch live. I'll pay money to watch him play football..

Don't bother answering these guys. It's a waste of time.

I don't take your ridiculous opinions seriously. Are you done bashing Hazard and Matic yet?

hahahahaa. Just classic stuff right here. We should frame your comment you know. We really should.

I'm upset myself, but we have to be careful. Just reading through the Mourinho thread is sad sometimes. Newsflash, we don't have the god-given right to win every game. Also, when we lose, it's not automatically Mourinho's fault. You can't blame Mourinho, the same way you can't blame Hazard or Matic. You can't blame Cech because we know he is world-class. He makes mistakes from time to time, but so does every other keeper, Courtois, Lloris and De gea included. You can't blame those responsible for our success when things go wrong. That angers me really. The real suspects are Torres and our board (for some truly awful decisions). But what to do. We've made steps to balance the squad and hopefully Torres will be f******** off in the summer. Reasoned critique is not too much to ask, even after disappointing performances. I was even angry at 2-1, LOL. We aren't a fully developed team like Madrid, Bayern or PSG. Our best players are playing in the knock-out phase of the CL for the first time, for god's sake! Building with young players was a decision the board and Roman decided to make and with young players comes disappointments and add to that the lack of goalscorers. We've done good for ourselves. I expect us to challenge for it all once (if?) we bring in a WC center forward.

Of course, anybody who doesn't like in and around Fulham broadway is not a Chelsea supporter! For your info, I grew up in North London and I've been to the Bridge before. Before Roman too. Why don't you support one of the Old Firm by the way? It's hypocrisy really.

No team in the premier league has recovered more points from losing positions than Chelsea, that's a fact. So this team does have fight in it. Remember Chelsea vs Liverpool? The Palace game was a let down but it has been coming really. How many miracles must Mourinho make with Torres as CF? He was a fucking joke against Villa and Palace. It's difficult to score goals, let alone win games without a goal-scoring CF and that fact is telling at a crucial part of the season. If we had an Aguero, Lewandowski or even a Sturridge, we wouldn't have lost either of these games. Think about how many chances the likes of Hazard have created for Torres this season, only for him to miss. Think about Torres' general link-up play or lack thereof. Eto'o has been doing fantastic and when he plays well, we look great. When he got injured recently, I knew we were in trouble. There is only so much Mourinho can do. It's sad that against PSG, Mourinho had to play Schurrle as a CF while Blanc had the luxury of fielding 3 world-class strikers in Lavezz, Ibra and Cavani. These players score goals and decide games on their own. Mourinho has taken "strikerless" Chelsea as far as he can this season. He's done a fantastic job like I pointed out and NO other manager in the world could have done better considering the circumstances.

You only see the good parts of Courtois but neder the bad parts. It's a damn shame. Cech has been nothing short of heroic. Remember his performance against Bayern in the Super Cup?

Are you confusing playing expansive football (playing well) with consistency in terms of results? We were on a 14 match unbeaten run prior to the robbery vs Aston Villa. Judging by your post, you probably mean playing with style, but it's difficult to do this without a reference point in the CF position. It's no surprise we play our best football (Liverpool, Newcastle, Galatsaray, City) when a fit Eto'o is leading the line. He is the only good striker at Chelsea. Don't forget the job of the striker is not only two score goals but to get others involved. You can't play good football with rubbish like Torres and Ba leading the line. And under Benitez, when we did play some good football with Torres, It was despite him not because of him.

Mourinho on decision to start Schurrle- 'I am not happy with my strikers' performances so I have to try things. With Andre at least I know we have one more player to have the ball and to associate with the other players. Even not being dangerous because he's not a striker he can associate and the team can have control of possession like we had. 'Football is not just about that. It's also about scoring goals, getting in behind and having real strikers'. Pretty brutal, but blunt and straight to the point. The chelsea board has a lot to answer. Just how one of the biggest and richest clubs in the world ends up with Torres, Ba and a "33" year old Eto'o to lead the line is beyond me. People praise the board for making no-brainer decisions like bidding for the Hazard's and Oscar's of this world, but it's this sort of poor planning that makes us a bit of a laughing stock. Demba was a panic buy. Eto'o should be playing in the MLS and Torres was done even in his Liverpool days. The signs were there. If City win the league, it's because they have done their homework in the transfer market. Txixi Bergenstein has been fantastic for them. Having good transfer windows is what makes a successful team, even more so than a manager. Just look at what good buys did for Bayern.

It's not that we are overrated, tbh. It's just two or three players that are overrated. I will reserve judgement on the ones that joined this season. Cech, Iva, Cahill, Terry, Azpi, Hazard, Matic.. That's a solid base to build on. Once we get Costa, god willing and hopefully a CM to partner Nemanja, then the sky is the limit

I left this comment on the Mourinho thread, but because of it's verbosity, I decided to create a new thread for the sake of visibility. It's a bit of a rant. A winning Chelsea and a losing Chelsea alone seperates the true CFC bluebloods from the fake, pseudo, glory-hunting, know nothing "fans" in need of instant gratification. The only gripes I have with the legendary manager (Mourinho) is that this season he has failed to integrate Demba Ba into the squad and for some reason, only known to him, has persisted with Torres. I know Torres' style of play and attributes are useful to our attack, especially when we set-up to counter the opposition, but Torres' presence as far as I'm concerned in ANY CFC line-up is as welcome as an asteroid to planet Earth. My second gripe is that his line-up's have cost us points in the league this season. This team is not good enough to even withstand minor tweaks to it. Something as minor as a change from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 sometimes has catastrophic effects to the way we play. We saw it vs Palace recently, West Ham, Spurs in WHL, vs Basel in the 2nd tie. We almost saw it vs Tottenham in the first half especially. Sometimes, he just needs to put out our best team in our best formation instead of worrying about the opponent's qualities, especially when we play against weaker opposition. Aside from that, he's been fantastic. What many of these thickos, these fake, pseudo, glory-hunting, know nothing "fans" in need of instant gratification "fans".... What they don't know is this. Chelsea have been a joke in the league for the past two years. We were sixth and then a DISTANT third in the league. Forget the CL we won. It was won solely due to sheer determination of our stalwarts of yesteryear. Giants like DD, Lamps, Cech and so on, willing to die for what had eluded them for a decade. We came sixth, our lowest finish since 2001. Our defense was sloppy and pathetic. We couldn't see games out. Mourinho fixed that. Just last season (and till January), our squad was terribly imbalanced, with our board for some bizzare reason signing so many attacking midfielders (probably in a bid to play more expansive football?)........Mourinho fixed that. Give me Matic and Salah over Mata and De Bruyne any day. We had lost our never say die spirit. Once the opposition took a strangle-hold in the game, we were done. How many times did we come back from defeat under AVB? Even under Ancelotti in his final months?..........Mourinho fixed that....... Our legendary invincibility at Stamford Bridge??? Gone. Teams like Sunderland and QPR for fucks sake came and turned us over at the Bridge. Now we look unbeatable at home ............Mourinho fixed that. In 2010/2011, we finished with 64 points. In 2011/2012, 75 points. This season, we have 69 points, with 7 matches left. MASSIVE improvements all over!!!!! Only Brendan Rodgers has shown more improvement to a big team in the league this season. But 'Pool don't even play in Europe and they have two top class strikers that win them matches, a luxury we don't have right now. We were irrelevant in the CL for fucks sake, a Europa team, now we play in the QF's of the CL without a reliable striker!! Which other team in the CL does that??? Every other team has their scoring machine except us. We should be proud to do be amongst the top 8 teams in the world and to do that without a striker! How some people just don't (OR won't) understand these simple facts, I will never know. We have Hazard, Oscar, Matic, Willian, Salah, van Ginkel plus the promised elite CF......... Some of the finest young players in the world + a 1000 and 1 reasons to be happy about the future. We have the best young stars in Europe and this next Chelsea team is going to be a beast, mark my words. Even stronger than the previous one was because we never had talent as remarkable as Eden. It's a season of transition guys. Didier is gone, so is Ballack, Malouda, Kalou, Bosingwa, Cole, Deco, Essien..... Lamps on his last legs.................. So please, put things in perspective and stop with the instant gratification.