MrExcalibur100

PSG aren't Napoli. That 3rd goal means game over as far as I'm oncerned. We just aren't good enough. Unless if Matic could play, then we might have a slim chance. But our quality, or lack thereof was shown up today.

People saying PSG were shit? They fucking raped us in the 2nd half and made us look average. Sometimes you just have to hold your hand up. They were much better

This is why Ramires is a liability. By-passed so easily in midfield by opposition runners and now walking the tight-rope with a yellow card

Mourinho Lampard for Ramires NOW!!

Eto'o too. Torres was overrated as fuck. One 30+ goal season in his career and he was heralded as the best. A glorified speed merchant

Wow, people even having a go at Brana. I think I'll come back to this thread after our next win. Then I'm sure perspective and reason will return.

We have been consistent in terms of results. What you mean't to say (and what Jose meant) was individual players lack consistency. Players like Schurrle and Willian are not very consistent, though they are still new to the league. That's not what you meant though, with you ridiculous example of Man City, FA cup. Maybe you don't know the meaning of the word. Man United have been inconsistent this season, not Chelsea. And I even bother responding to you because you are always moaning and crying when things go wrong, like a gloryhunter. That's why I suggested you go support Bayern, because they have the luxury of smashing Bundesliga teams by 4,5 and 6 and they won their league by 20+ points. You would have little to moan about if you supported them.

D Suarez would fit like a glove into our style of play. Lack of creativity? Hazard alone has created more chances than any other player in Europe. How many chances did we create against Everton, Stoke (in the league and Cup), Steaua at the Bridge, Swansea......... I can go on and on. How many times has Torres missed sitters this season? I can go on and on. How many times has Torres put in anonymous performances home and away this season? I can go on and on. Our main and only problem is the CF position. Eto'o is fantastic, but he is too old to be the difference and a consistent match-winner. Ba is not rated by the manager. Mourinho rarely uses him. Torres is THE cancer in this team. We are never going to win any important trophy if Torres plays a prominent part. And, NO, the Europa league does not count because of the quality of opposition.

Just a response to your ridiculous comment about City and lack of "consistency". City have not lost two back-to-back games for over two years. Chelsea, a team in transition were on a 14 match unbeaten run in the league before that bastard, Chris Foy did us at Villa park. The longest unbeaten run this season. If that's not consistency, I don't know what is.

What are the chances of beating City twice in a row in their stadium? Can they do that to us at SB? Especially when they had a week's rest and we had to go to the midlands to play West Brom. Your critiscm in pathetic. If you can't see the progress we've made this season, then fuck off and go support Bayern. They destroy everyone 5,6,-0 every game and won their league with 20+ points.

The short answer is success. What we miss now is a WC striker (with all due respect to Eto'o, who is still a quality player, but he's old and not our future Becuase of his age, he is also fairly inconsistent). That's why we can't destroy the smaller teams. If we had one, we would have beaten Stoke, Everton and West Brom. We would have been out of sight in the league The bigger teams (City, Liverpool, Arsenal) all like to attack us and play football. That works into our hands because we have a very strong defense (perhaps the strongest in Europe) and we have pacy players on the counter-attack. With these two qualities, you can beat any team. And add to the fact that Eto'o has been fantastic against the biggest teams at Stamford Bridge. It gives us a luxury we miss. Imagine if Torres started against Man United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool? We would have been struggling for 4th place again. Torres is a cancer to our team. The mystery is how he starts ahead of Ba when Eto'o is injured.

Obvious notes from Crystal Palace game: (1) Torres (the cunt) should never start a game in a Chelsea shirt again. This much is obvious to anyone who has watched this mediocre player in the last 3 years. I don't even consider him a footballer anymore, he's just a joke that doesn't deserve to wear the shirt. Ba MUST have started that game with Eto'o out injured. Torres can NEVER be trusted. One would think an experienced manager like Jose would have learned by now. (2) 4-2-3-1 is our best system, the system that suits our personnel the most and we should stick with it in every game. Playing a 4-3-3 with Torres(seriously?), Schurrle and Hazard (who looks very very tired) against relegation/mid-table defensive teams means you get little in terms of creativity. Those players are for a counter-attacking style. Add to the fact that our full-backs are not given license to over-lap, it means we aren't committing players to attack. That's disappointing. Oscar/Willian should have started as a number 10. (3) Matic, Luiz and Lampard in as a midfield trio against relegation/mid-table defensive teams is a mistake. Matic and Luiz provide a platform for Lampard to attack, but Lampard is 35. He is not the player he once was, and for the first time in a decade, he might not score 10 goals in a season. Starting Luiz and Matic together made sense against a physical, direct Tony Pulis team, but it should have been in a 4-2-3-1, not a 4-3-3. (4) The last point and it's a general one. It's also the one that bothers me a little. Jose sometimes goes for a very scientific approach when he picks his line-ups and tactical shape. "Scientific" as in picking your line-up based on the strengths of the opposition, as opposed to Chelsea's strengths. Now it's understandable to think this way against really strong teams away from home (i.e against Man City), but you have to have a different approach against teams like Crystal Palace. In that game, Jose just had to start either Willian or Oscar in a 4-2-3-1. He went with a 4-3-3 because he wanted an extra body in midfield to help with Palace's style. That wasn't necessary because we had Terry, Cahill, Luiz, Matic and Ivanovic starting. All tall, physical players. It's already happened a lot this season where Jose makes a change at half-time admitting he was wrong with his line-up/formation. Sometimes, you just have to play your best players instead of trying to be too clever. I'm sure he also wanted to give Oscar a rest in view of the CL match against PSG as well, so that might have been in his thinking when he chose that formation. It was a mistake because I genuinely felt prior to the Palace match, we had a better chance to win the Premier league than the Champions league. Personally, I feel it's Hazard who is more deserving of a rest, but I guess he's just too good to be rested. Hazard does have a reputation from his Lille days of being able to play every game. We might end up with nothing this season, but I've loved our progress this season under Jose. In a transition season (old guard more or less gone/on the wane: new young guys bought/ gaining prominence) Massive improvement in defense, massive individual improvements in some players, removing the obvious imbalance in the squad (with the ridiculous amount of AM's we once had), bringing in the right personnel to restore balance (MATIC, Salah, van Ginkel, Schurrle {though that was before Jose}) . Our squad now looks pretty amazing on paper bar a top-class striker in his prime. I say that because I consider Eto'o to be an absolutely top class striker, but he's past his prime and only god knows his true age. He's probably in his mid-30's. The only disappointment in terms of the team is the lack of killer instinct away from home , but that has more to do with Torres starting so many away matches than anything. We know what we need now. Torres, Ba, Mikel and Cole (he won't want to be a squad player) all MUST be sold. Costa, a LB (Shaw?) and less importantly, a CM (Kroos?) SHOULD be bought. A CM to partner Matic is less important because van Ginkel is going to be an absolutely immense player for this club. Mark my words. And Lukaku (hopefully) will be back as well. So that's Costa (*), Hazard, Matic, Oscar, Schurrle, Azpilicueta, Lukaku, Willian, van Ginkel, Salah and Zouma with MOURINHO as manager. A million and one reasons to be very excited about this New Chelsea.

He's looked good and came close to scoring. His passing range is going to be a huge upgrade to Ramires' mediocre passing next season. He's hit some beautiful cross-field balls.

Those MF's will give us Madrid, you wait and see. PSG will definitely get Dortmund thanks to the Platini connection.

Torres is still needed for the remainder of the season, unfortunately. Not because he's a good player, but we need to rotate Eto'o. Eto'o doesn't have age on his side and can't play every game.

This is why it's important we assemble a formidable team that can and will win important titles (apparently, he told Platini "he never wins" after the Supercup). He wants to win big trophies and the ballon d'Or. That is only possible if you are there fighting for league titles and challenging in the latter stages of the CL. That's why it's important we get this summer transfer window spot-on. And most importantly, we have to keep Jose for as long as possible too. London is a great city to live as well. I was born there . If all these things are in place, I seriously doubt he will be interested in moving elsewhere. Of course, he has to do his part too. Become more prolific by shooting more is a big start. He is going to be even more scary when hopefully, we sign Costa. Unlike Cristiano, who was a Madrid fan and dreamed about playing for them, Hazard is not a Madrid fan. He grew up supporting PSG, and was also a fan of Zidane. Of course, PSG are a rich club now, but I don't see Hazard taking a step down to Ligue One. He's been there and done that.

I hear you, but I think he's been pretty consistent this season personally. That's the main difference between this season and last season. He's elevated his game to become one of the top players in the world and we haven't had that since 2009/2010 Drogba. As for earning it, I don't believe footballers really earn any of the ridiculous wages they get. Regardless of how good they are. It's about keeping your most valuable asset happy. That's how its done nowadays at the really top clubs. United did the same with Rooney. Only god knows how many times he has had his contract renewed when he never earned it. It's a business afterall.

If "there" means Messi and Ronaldo, then no. But if it means Reus, Bale, Robben, Ribery then yes. His productivity is either equal or better than some of his other world-class counter parts playing in easier leagues for better teams. The fact that he's statistically the most creative player in Europe this season says a lot. The thing is, his initial wage was maybe a little to high in the first place, but you have to pay top dollar for the Crème de la Crème.

Cech Iva Cahill Terry Azpi Matic Lamps Schurrle Oscar Hazard Eto'o

In order of "I don't want to face" Madrid = Strongest team in the competition. Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Isco, Modric, Di Maria, Xabi Alonso, Marcelo, Pepe and Diego Lopez.. What sets them apart from Barca is the pace they've got. Their only serious weak spot is right-back. And we all know who torments right-backs for Chelsea. Atletico = Very, very "uncomfortable" opposition. Have the ability to stifle the opponent's attacks and press relentlessly. Similar playing style to ourselves. I don't want to face this team. Our defense can handle their attack, but their defense can also handle what we've got. Playing at the Calderon is very, very difficult. Bayern = European Champs. Everyone thinks they are the best side but I'm not entirely convinced. They've improved, but we proved we can be more than a match them in the Super Cup and we have improved considerably since then. Our strong defense can hold whatever they throw at us and we can do damage at the other end. They hate it when other teams attack them. I wasn't too convinced by their display against Arsenal either. Barcelona = Our bitches. We know how to beat them and we are an uncomfortable opponent. This time around, we have more quality in attack to seriously hurt them instead of just nicking one goal and defending. We haven't lost to them since 2006. Head to Head (Played = 15) 5 wins for us/5 draws/5 losses. Not bad. Not bad at all. PSG = Fantastic side. I've watched them a lot, but I get the feeling that they are being overrated by some pundits/fans. A bunch of world class players like Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Matuidi and Thiago Silva. Talent too in Lucas Moura, Verrati, Digne and Rabiot. Blanc is still yet to find the right tactical set-up to play both Cavani and Ibra. Cavani is being shifted out-wide in a 4-3-3 and he looks lonely there and not as dangerous as he is when he plays his natural position. Azpilicueta can do a job on him. And if he tucks in, then Hazard makes that flank his own. Stopping Ibra through the middle is another matter, but he's the type of guy that gets worse and worse in a match when things don't go his way. Dortmund = Not the same side they were last season. They have had an continue to suffer from an unbelievable injury list. Subotic, Gundogan, Blaszczykowski, Bender, Reus have all been injured this season. And of course, they lost Gotze and replaced him with Mkhitaryan who though a very talented player, has been a bit underwhelming. Aubemayung, well good player, very pacy, but has been a bit underwhelming as well since he joined. Their defense is questionable too. Personally, I'll like too face them simply because they play good football, their fans are awesome, and their stadium is incredible. Klopp vs Jose. I'm sure Jose wants revenge. Man United = Meh. Have the players to give us a serious fight, but as long as Moyes is still manager, they are not a serious threat to any team in the last 8. It's funny reading Redcafe though. A couple of their fans want to play us. They think we are the easiest draw along with Dortmund even after we brushed them aside at the Bridge whilst in second gear.

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/465742/EXCLUSIVE-Chelsea-star-Eden-Hazard-set-for-new-200k-deal

Matic bro

He hardly ever loses 1 one 1 individual duels. His man-marking ability is ridiculous really. It was the same in his first season. I remember him putting Bale firmly in his pocket. He has put many good players in his pocket....Navas at the Emirates too. The main differences between him and Cole is his physicality. He is very strong. He is also better aerially than Cole. There isn't any difference in pace between the two nowadays. I dunno what Jose is going to do next season if we bring in Shaw. Does he move Azpi to his natural position? Ivanovic's offensive game is pretty average, but gives us a lot defensively and aerially plus he's a warrior and future Chelsea legend. Knowing Jose, and seeing how strong our defense is, I doubt he changes anything.

You know what, I agree with everything, but that's just the type of player he is really. It's in his blood to look for a player in a better position and to always try to make right decisions. He could have shot after that run but it was an impossible angle. Let's see what happens next season when we get a striker that will more than benefit from Hazard's style of play. An important thing is, with his unique close control, it's difficult sometimes to generate a lot of power on a shot, unless you push the ball ahead of you and strike it. Messi, a player with a similar style doesn't really have a problem because his finishing is more developed than Hazard's, but that's only a side-comparison because Messi plays closer to goal. But initially, Messi used to have that problem of not shooting but has grown into a goal machine. Talking weaknesses, Hazard's shooting technique can be worked on more than just his shooting for the sake of it like the Robben's and Bale's of this world. So can his high-crossing and corners. But we can't afford to nit-pick his very few weaknesses. His skill-set is already ridiculously developed for a player so young. It's just silly sometimes when some people (not you or Barbara) want to mold Eden into the player they want him to be instead of the player he wants himself to be. We all want him to be the best, but if we nit-pick on everything, we end up criticizing all our players, because all players have weaknesses. "He just needs to do this, he just needs to do that". I doubt if Mourinho or even Hazard himself are as demanding of Hazard as some of our fans. Looking at the previous comments since the inception of this thread, it's funny really. It's funny to read. So let's just chill out and enjoy a special player

It's hard for him to find that much space to shoot with the way teams play against us in the league especially. When he had a chance to shoot in this game, he did and Muslera saved it. I can't think of one time in this game when he had to a chance to shoot, but turned it down. He tries to be to cute sometimes, but Hazard is a pass-first type of player, always has been. Right now, none of our other forward players are playing at such a level that they scare the opposition. Hazard gets all their attention and rightly so. Of course this will change next season when we get a top class forward who can take some focus off Hazard. The fact that no player close to his age is playing on a similar level is enough for me ATM.