Mohammed Seif

looool. I guess I didn't miss much having been away from the forum since the WC. Seems to be a trend to completely dismiss the guy when he drops slightly drops in form. When will this guy get a break I have no clue.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

maybe the constraints come off at Chelsea next season and our side will be free to develop more. this is what I've been hoping for since Mourinho returned; just waiting to get the trophy/trophies out of the way, fulfill someone's or some peoples' expectations and MOVE ON afterward.
I have to wonder whether Oscar leaving and someone like Salah or another player coming into central attacking role will be an improvement or if Chelsea just need to generally loosen-up, play with more speed and having a Plan B formation will do the trick.
I'm itching to see RLC on the pitch too.
Lastly, I like seeing Juve get beaten and I'm happy for Salah there.

Ok we can disagree on the term SLIGHTLY, it is a subjective matter, but sure he dropped in the second half of the season with comparison to the first half. The point that I always had when it came to young players such as Oscar, is that they will go through drops in form and periods of inconsistencies. He still contributes significantly to the team. Maybe now more defensively than offensively but still is important. Maybe it it is accumelated fatigue, maybe it is the weather, maybe something else I don't know for sure. But I know when he is in top form he is a great asset to have. I would not call him one of the greatest ( though I hope he becomes one) but I would certainly call him a key player.
As far as Pogba is concerned I think he is a good player and I can see your point. But even Pogba sometimes is clueless. Juventus vs Fiorentina last night he just didn't know what to do with the ball when he got it. He was definitely full of energy. But just kept making very weird decisions. In all fairness a lot of the Juve players did the same. My point is he too will go through dry spells Oscar is a young player and I don't think he will be happy being benched. Game time is key for his development. Benching him and bringing him for the easy games (mid/smaller) team will do nothing really but give him a strong feeling that he is not trusted and that will mount huge unnecessary pressure on him to perform. Currently the squad is doing well. We are dealing much better with teams that park the bus than last season. So offensively we are doing much better. I think it is not the correct time to think about Pogba. And Oscar dropping form is not a huge deal. After all Costa was like crap in the WC, great first half of the season, then dropped in form. These things happen.

looool. I guess I didn't miss much having been away from the forum since the WC. Seems to be a trend to completely dismiss the guy when he drops slightly drops in form. When will this guy get a break I have no clue.

Oh A LOT has been happening to me . I am glad to be back and I have missed you and everyone on the forum.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

Oh A LOT has been happening to me . I am glad to be back and I have missed you and everyone on the forum.

Ok we can disagree on the term SLIGHTLY, it is a subjective matter, but sure he dropped in the second half of the season with comparison to the first half. The point that I always had when it came to young players such as Oscar, is that they will go through drops in form and periods of inconsistencies. He still contributes significantly to the team. Maybe now more defensively than offensively but still is important. Maybe it it is accumelated fatigue, maybe it is the weather, maybe something else I don't know for sure. But I know when he is in top form he is a great asset to have. I would not call him one of the greatest ( though I hope he becomes one) but I would certainly call him a key player.
As far as Pogba is concerned I think he is a good player and I can see your point. But even Pogba sometimes is clueless. Juventus vs Fiorentina last night he just didn't know what to do with the ball when he got it. He was definitely full of energy. But just kept making very weird decisions. In all fairness a lot of the Juve players did the same. My point is he too will go through dry spells Oscar is a young player and I don't think he will be happy being benched. Game time is key for his development. Benching him and bringing him for the easy games (mid/smaller) team will do nothing really but give him a strong feeling that he is not trusted and that will mount huge unnecessary pressure on him to perform. Currently the squad is doing well. We are dealing much better with teams that park the bus than last season. So offensively we are doing much better. I think it is not the correct time to think about Pogba. And Oscar dropping form is not a huge deal. After all Costa was like crap in the WC, great first half of the season, then dropped in form. These things happen.

Oh A LOT has been happening to me . I am glad to be back and I have missed you and everyone on the forum.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

you've been missed. I was wondering where you went the other day. Happy to have you back.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

Exactly. Schurlle and Salah prefer to be supporting strikers. Playing in a free role behind the striker. Mourinho never plays this system so they'll never fit in.
In fact coming to think of it, Mata and KDB love this same system too.

I really don't get all the fuss created around Salah. At Basel and Fiorentina Salah has more of a free role in the pitch. He drops at times to midfield, goes to the wings or plays as a shadow striker. At Chelsea he is more of a winger than anything else. So clearly the system is a key factor. Playtime is also a factor as far as confidence is concerned because clearly he is not suffering in form. That is why he is finishing like he used to finish at Basel and the Egyptian National team. When he was clearly not given much play time that affected his morale. And clearly that showed in the few games he got. Having said that he is still young and as I said last season, in developing stages he will go through periods of inconsistencies. So I doubt he will keep developing without having drops of form a long the way. No one can blame Mourinho for not giving him time too. The guy simply wants to win silverware and it is about time Chelsea wins the EPL and hopefully the CL too.
Though I am not and never was a fan of Serie A , but the Italian league cannot be dismissed like some people attempted to do so. It is a strong league with strong players. I believe Cuadrado didn't come from the moon, he came from Serie A. Salah had good performances against Atalanta, Torino, Inter Milan and Juventus. These are no easy teams. Sure Inter is not the Inter everyone is used to, but still it is no easy team neither is Juventus. Not to mention Tottenham, that became like a hobby for Salah to dismantle and eliminate. And please, there is no such thing as an EL player and CL player. How people came up with such categorization I have no clue. Not long ago many of current Chelsea players were struggling in the CL and fell in the EL.
Having said that I think Cuadrado is more suited to Chelsea's system. He has speed, control, good crosses and the ability to take shots from outside the box. He definitely needs time to adapt to the system and the players on the field. He is definitely an upgrade for Salah and Schurrle in this system ( though I really miss Schurrle). Salah should be kept on loan for another year at Fiorentina which should guarantee him playtime and room to develop. At the end of the loan period we will see if the way he develops suits Chelsea's system or not and based on that a proper decision whether to sell him or bring him back can be taken. Meanwhile it is good to see him perform well. Either way it is a win win situation for both Chelsea and Salah.

Oscar provides great balance and cohesiveness to the squad, those that bash him don't quite understand how important he is to an XI. Cesc and Oscar compliment each other perfectly.

we hope, but during PS (if that's any indication) he took corners even when either Schurrle or Cesc were in the pitch. Especially at the left side. Makes no sense. Anyone but him, doesn't matter if it's not the other guy's best foot, his weak foot is better than Willian's rightful foot for corners. It's no jab on him - not everyone has to be able to take corners. He works well in central FK, but in corners he's terrible.
I re-watched parts of the match and I thought Oscar was better than in my first impression. He fulfilled a role well. Sometimes he did move forward, but he didn't receive the pass, I saw him a few times even higher than Costa (who comes back a lot to press, to receive, to everything, he's amazing). He's lacking a lot of creativity, but in the Costa goal (could be Schurrle's, not sure) he tried a through ball just a couple of seconds before the Cesc pass (probably Costa's, as for Schurrle's goal Hazard simply raped their whole defense all by himself). It was a nice ball by him, but the defender was lucky and could intercept. I remember another occasion he also completed a nice pass forward. The problem is/was he doesn't do it nearly enough and the accuracy isn't high. With Cesc creating like that, we won't miss it much, but the thing is, unfortunately, Cesc won't be this beast 38 games... Oscar should get the chance of being released of an overwhelming responsibility and flourish, just like Eden had. Eden didn't assist any goal yesterday, but he was amazing. He did his flicks, always very objectively, never just for the fun of it, and he played an important whole stretching their defense. We seem incredibly balanced now, but that's because Cesc was phenomenal. In a 'normal' day Oscar has to try harder and do better. Hazard seems to have already found his place there and he's working very good (oh I remember the other occasion, it was a sequence of passes involving Eden, Oscar and Costa, still in the first half, inside the 18-yard box - I guess it's from that play that comes the corner Iva scored? I could be wrong though about the timing).
Oscar doesn't need to appear in the stats if he can contribute to the match like Hazard did. Of course, some matches the last pass before the goal will be theirs and not Fab's, but that's the step Oscar needs to take now. Be there, do the thing, try to shine some all while still doing his pressing, high work-rate, tackle things. It doesn't seem to overload him and as I said a few days ago, he tackles a lot of balls in the final third. That's invaluable. To recover the ball when the opposition's defense and pivot are moving apart, to start their transition is one of the best attack opportunities. If he does that effectively, it's nearly the same as assisting, because if he intercepts/tackles the ball and passes it quickly to someone near him that may need another pass before the goal, his contribution is relevant. So I'll be happy if he keeps those tackles there and if he tries to create a few times himself during a match. I don't need him to have double digit assists in that case. I do expect him to have double digit goals though.
are you kidding me? Hazard was a pivotal player for us yesterday and yes, he's set the world on fire. He was amazing and contributed a lot.

Come on, it's only our first game... We have 5 players for 3 spots. He will get his chance.

Come on guys. I support Salah but not at the expense of his teammates. The second half of last season Oscar had more than his fair share of criticism. They are both young and will not always perform well. Salah and his fans (including myself) should really accept criticism when he doesn't perform. Last game was "ok" for me. But the previous three were just bad. Oscar started last season well, but dramatically lost his form in the second half of the season. So let us give him a break and see how he performs throughout this season.

salah and willian

I haven't really noticed his quick feet in tight spaces but if he has it, then it will be a matter of time before he adds end product and becomes a starter for us. But he seems like a pass and move player which I like

Agreed. Salah is a skillful little dude... Moses has no skill whatsoever; he runs and crosses/shoots and he needs lots of space to operate in.
Don't people see his quick feet and tight control of the football at all times? No the end product isn't there just yet, and he will certainly struggle when tightly marked once the league starts, but those are the hurdles he's got to overcome to develop.