MrExcalibur100

We need a big performance from Costa tonight

Interesting list, this time done in a sensible manner weighing success rate. Willian, Moses, Pedro and Hazard all make the list. According to this, Hazard and Traore are by far the best dribblers in Europe.

I actually heard that Eden had a slight injury, that's why he didn't start in the FA Cup.

You watch Boro play? That's something to be commended in itself.

Griezmann and Sanchez. World class players. Difficult but not impossible. I prefer Tolisso to Nainggolan. I don't rate Nainggolan anywhere near as highly as some seem to do here. He's just not that good in my opinion and I feel Tolisso's attributes mesh better with Kante's than Nainggolan's. Lukaku's touch and technique will be a problem. How will he link up with Willian, Pedro and Hazard? (assuming he's still here next season and not in Madrid). Costa struggles with his touch and technique and Lukaku will too. I also lean towards someone like Morata more than I do Lukaku. His goals:min ratio is impressive and Conte trusts him. Lukaku is obviously more proven in this league but that's the only real advantage he has if it's a shoot-off between those two.

Lukaku, Nainggolan. Decent players but these aren't the signings that will take us to the next level.

If Conte doesn't think Batshuayi is up for it, maybe there's a reason for that. I don't see him ever starting over Costa until the season is over actually.

Except for the lack of defending.

Spurs face Crystal Palace on Wednesday after Palace play tomorrow away to Liverpool. We play Southampton on Tuesday who will not have played since the 15th of April. Conte isn't really happy about it and rightly so. It doesn't make any sense. Anyway, 3 days recovery against a good Southampton side won't be easy at all, even at home. Hopefully, the likes of Eden, Cesc, Costa and Cahill are fresh for this game.

I disagree. I think he's plays at a higher level than Lampard (I actually think Essein generally played better) in the big games and honestly, I wasn't really considering defenders so JT wasn't in my thinking. That's not to say Eden is in the same conversation as Frank and JT and Didier as Chelsea icons. But just from a purely objective standpoint, as someone who has been following the club for 20 years, I don't believe anyone excluding Didier has performed better in the big games so consistently. And I'll exclude defenders and goalkeepers as it's hard to make a coherent comparison there. Just in the last year or so, he's scored 10 goals against the best teams in the country. And that's not even considering some of the performances.

(i) 2013/14 vs PSG 1st leg (away) - Hazard plays well despite barely seeing the ball (a classic problem he and all our forwards had under Mourinho). Scores a goal and hits the post with a volley. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/26811631 (ii) 2013/14 vs PSG 2nd leg (home) - Barely plays for 30 mins and goes off injured. Shouldn't have played at all really but Mourinho shoehorned him into the side. Out for 3 weeks. (iii) 2013/14 vs Atletico Madrid 1st leg (away) - Did not play. Still injured. (iv) 2013/14 vs Atletico Madrid 2nd leg (home) - 1st game out for 3 weeks which is a big problem at that level. Still rusty, playing in the most defensive XI ^^^ I've ever seen at the Bridge. (v) 2014/15 vs PSG 1st leg (away) - One of the most embarrassing defensive displays I've ever seen under Mourinho. Hazard played as a left back all game. Willian RB. Costa barely got a sniff. Pathetic tactics. (vi) 2014/15 vs PSG 2nd leg (Home) - By far the best player in blue on the day. The only player with any game changing quality at the time trying everything vs top class defenders who were particularly defensive because they were down to 10 men. Mourinho's inability to train high quality coordinated attacks also didn't help us in that game as well. So where are the so-called big games in the CL Hazard has apparently not performed in for us? It's just a bunch of bullshit. You can argue his scoring record in the competition is not great, but (1) That was not my initial point of argumentation. I stated he was the best big game performer in CFC history (at least I've seen) alongside Drogba. with Didier being (1) and Eden being (2). I think that's fair comment to make. (2) You started talking about his CL record which is neither here no there. It's just numbers with no real meaning without any context. So imagine in a hypothetical scenario Hazard goes to Madrid next season, does anyone really believe he won't be one of the most dominant players in the tournament? It's just an inane stick to beat him with at this point.

How many of those games were at Lille? More importantly, how many of those games were big games vs Top European teams? I seem to remember Hazard not scoring against Schalke and Galatasaray but still playing very well. We've played PSG and Atletico Madrid and he's scored twice in those games (the only big teams we've faced in that competition since Hazard has been at Chelsea), most of them with no help and having to play left back. Most importantly, what does that have to do with my comment about big games, nothing since most of those games haven't been in big games. Really bizarre argumentation and not befitting of this thread as Eden only deserves praise right now.

I'm watching the 2nd half again and the impact he had on the 2nd half was pretty incredible. Better than I thought watching it live.

https://streamable.com/q8fmb What a strike. Dayum, Nemanja.

Yeah, beat me to it

I partly agree with the freshness impact off the bench. I personally feel he prioriotized Tuesday ahead of today. I'm not sure leaving your best player on the bench is the best strategical move under any circumstance, but it worked for us today.

If Mourinho made the exact changes and got the exact results Conte got today, the press will be calling it a Masterclass.

Tremendous strike but the goal will mask from how terrible he was and how he's not the required quality of a CFC starter.

Also, we must not lose Willian. He's a great player to have in your team.

Fantastic performance. I never panicked when they attacked down his side. I've said it before he's a better talent than Zouma and suits out back 3 better than him. He and Christensen are going to be immense for us in the coming years. World class potential between the both of 'em.

It's retarded, right? I never understood the criticism. The level he's shown in most CL games (bar last season) has been pretty much what we've seen from him in his CFC career, performance wise. Yeah, his away leg was good in the 2013/14 season considering he barely touched the ball. Hit the bar with a volley and scored a goal.

9 of his last 20 goals have been freekicks. I was really sad for him when he came off. He was much better than Pedro today, even not considering the goals.

3 weeks out and barely fit as well and expected to do everything Really embarrassing. I just laugh when people try to use the CL as a stick to criticize Hazard with. Moreso from CFC fans who actually watched the games and should know better.

What exactly is his CL record and how is it embarrassing? His goal scoring record in the Champions league for Chelsea is 1 in 3 games. He's had his moments and Mourinho's tactics negated his impact in the biggest games (of which there have only been very few since he's been here and scored in 2 of them) and/or he was injured. Hardly embarrasing. Stop believing the bullshit opposition fans come up with. Secondly, I didn't put him on the same pedestal as Drogba. I said they're both the best I've seen in big games, with Drogba obviously being 1 and Hazard being 2. Hazard plays better than Lampard in the big games. Plays better than Zola. Hasselbaink. Whichever legend you want to mention in the last 25 years and I've watched all of them. Besides, there have been several great players in our history who never played in the champions league but were big game players. I'm not sure why you're conflating these two things.

The problem is that we honestly haven't been that relevant in the Champions League since 2012. It's not like the mid to late 2000's. Hazard has dominated what has been put in front of him. He hasn't had that many opportunities or a platform in the Champions League for several reasons. He doesn't need that to validate himself as our best big game performer for me. Especially as these might help win us 2 league titles in 3 years.