MrExcalibur100

That's why I said FIRST half. We outplayed them and we completely controlled the midfield with Matic being a beast but we lacked the cutting edge upfront with that fucker, Torres "leading" the line.

Another thing about that Villa game. I still can't understand why Eto'o wasn't even on the bench for that one.

I think the presence of Torres was a greater hindrance in that game than Foy, tbh. Foy was not even that bad in the first half when we were completely dominant but lacked a cutting edge (again) due to an anonymous presence up front.

But still, any team fighting for the title should be beating Villa. They are a very, very, very average side. They've been hammered by Stoke and Man united since that game against us.

Exactly. These guys are new to the league and have shown so far that they struggle against physicality and parked buses. Watch us struggle to do anything of substance and then Hazard coming on at the 60th mark to try and save the day. I hope I eat my words, but nothing I've seen so far this season suggests that isn't going to happen.

Even Fulham is beating Aston Villa at Villa Park. Just shows how shit we've been.

None of Willian, Schurrle or Salah have the creativity to break down what is going to be a very defensive Stoke team. Torres is a non-factor as usual. EVERY Chelsea fan knows this. WTF is Jose doing?

Scary line-up. I fear a draw or some other silly result. WTF is Jose smoking resting Hazard , Oscar and playing Torres? This match is more important than the PSG game. We have a more realistic chance of winning the league than overturning that PSG result. Surely I'm not the only one that thinks like this.

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.