Essien19

Haha now it's Luis, yesterday it was Kevin, who's next, Torres?! To be fair, well played Luis, he is back to best, wasn't the case with us, but who cares, lol Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Pure speculation, the media must write something to survive, for most of the time they have been proven wrong Kiwie. Maybe just maybe we wanted to trust one of our own, or you were right and stupid ol' Jose has gotten no clue, we'll never know. [emoji4] There's nothing wrong with appreciating a good footballer, but i keep wondering where i can find the Suarez, Neymar, Messi, Busquets, Alves, Ronaldo, Bale, Modric, Neuer, Lewandowski and so it continues appreciation threads so we all can participate in a proper wankfest. It's only the Kevin de Bruyne thread whose popping up again and again. Mhh [emoji4]

We've officially become the number one fan club of Kevin de Bruyne. And yes, if Kevin scores again - especially in the UCL, some people will completely lose it, Mourinho, de Bruyne and UCL thread immediately popped up yesterday, Lukaku's thread has gone silent, mhh. [emoji2] not the worst idea to take a small break. Weather is getting better and better. [emoji8]

If it were only so simple in football. [emoji4] Yes, the boy can play but his attitude is questionable, read what Allofs said about him. He needed time to develop, wasn't the player he is now from the beginning. But his mouth was as big as it is today. Difficult for a team with at that time skillwise similar players.

Just like Wenger and the whole world Kiwi. Guess what, we could have signed Messi as a teenager but the ghost of Jose intervened. Ups!... he did it again. [emoji4]

Mata was twice Chelsea player of the year, Fa Cup, Champions-League and Euro-League winner. Is it over the top to say that Payet this days and Mata 2012/2013 are on a similar level? Mata had the better numbers, isn't that what worldclass is all about? Mata outshined even David Silva back in the day. Letting him go and collecting the big bucks wasn't bad, was it?! Currently De Bruyne is cutting it for City, yes, it seems like a good deal. But is it really necessary to go gung-ho because he left? It's on one man and one man only, but what about the board? They make the contracts, didn't want to put in a clause to buy him back, good ol' Jose must have been reason for it. [emoji4]

If Kevin does something nice, all hell breaks lose in here, a bad game or Chelsea win doesn't get that much attention. It's like some people are waiting and perhaps even 'hoping' for it to happen. Kevin here, Kevin there, do you hear United fans crying and insulting their legend Ferguson because of Pogba? I don't think so! I was a called a moaner, maybe they're right, but the case Kevin de Bruyne isn't doing them any favours. Maybe you predicted this outcome, congrats, but this schadenfreude is something else.

I don't get why we have to repeat the same thing over and over again. Yes, De Bruyne is class, but why isn't there a big discussion going on in the Mata/Schurrle/and so on threads on praising the sellings? People really like to stick it to some people, only focusing on the negatives, going to bed. Too predictable...

People are so happy to use the phrase 'i told you so', nobody likes a show-off, especially when Mourinho hasn't taken another job yet. PSG had to do it without Verratti, Luiz and Matuidi, that's more difficult. City had a very good Hart, good save against Ibra's freekick and other chances. PSG gave the ball away too easily , too many mistakes, sloppy.

75 mil repaid in one match. This time he got one over on Di Maria, congrats. Apart from that, lots of knee-jerk from the usual suspects who already knew from the very first day that De Bruyne would become world class.

Having two very good strikers around is something no one would refuse, imo. But it's an expensive decision, do you really think that at that time the board would have agreed to that? Instead of Costa we would have had Lukaku would be my guess. Anyway, how many clubs have two class hitmen these days? It has become nothing more than a luxury. Real have Benzema, Barcelona Suarez, Dortmund Aubameyang, Yids Kane, Leicester Vardy and so on. There is indeed a different model out there, two different strikers. Atletico has Griezmann and Torres who complement each other, similar to Bayern Munich with Lewandowski and Muller. How does it work with very similar ones? PSG comes to mind, they have two big men with Ibrahimovic and Cavani, but firstly they don't give a fuck about FFP and secondly media is still reporting that Cavani ain't happy. Time's changing, yes, Jose did it with Benzema and Higuain, but today it's not normal anymore. Big players want to play, particularly the big games and that's a thing which can't be assured, imo. I think Jose wanted Costa to play most of our games, so we're talking about backup roles, the guys who play at most 20% of the games. Last season Remy was banging them in for fun, sometimes i read that he was underrated, at least a decent striker, imo. Before all of that we had Ba who wasn't bad either. Behind Ba/ Remy we had washed up strikers, Eto'o, Drogba, Falcao (he was the first big flop out of the three) and nowadays Pato. Besides the three strikers, we have introduced Traoré, now we're talking about 4 respectively 5 strikers in the house. As i said before Falcao was a flop, Jose stuck his neck out, maybe he had no choice because the dude was forced on him, anyway, it went south. Maybe Jose wanted to prioritize on a new defender instead of a better striker, but that's just a guess. At that time i agreed that a proper defender or another midfielder would be the better choice, so i can't criticize him for that. You stated that Jose costed us Lukaku, Mata, Kdb, Bertrand. Was it really the case? Of course you can miss a penalty, the thing is Lukaku's overall style of play wasn't good against Bayern Munich, it didn't look like he bothered, imo. During the WM he played very poor, looked out depth and like an amateur, he was far from perfect, despite some goals in the league. Jose didn't want to gift him the spot, not without competition, Lukaku wanted to play no matter what, imo. For one season we could have used him, i agree with you, but i get where Jose were coming from. Maybe Eto'o came in before Lukaku left, but the talking was done before, imo. The penalty didn't change much, just the icing on the cake for the fans, imo. But make no mistake, Eto'o hattrick vs. United, Ba saved our asses and Torres gave us hope against Atleti. Not too bad! Jose said that he wanted to bring in Costa in his first season but it was impossible, anyway, Costa's no worse than Lukaku so i can't fold Jose for this one. Nowadays a lot of decisions are a lot easier because of hindsight. As i said before back in the day Oscar was fitting in nicely here and Mata couldn't get his spot back, United came calling, offering big bucks and soft-soaped him. Kevin was a mistake, but he was just a boy with a big mouth and fear because of the possibility of missing out on the upcoming tournament. He matured a lot at Wolfsburg, the experience was very good for him and his development, sometimes that's exactly what a young guy needs. There was a time when Ivanovic and Azpilicueta were actually really good players, difficult times for Bertrand to get on the field. I think it was under Benitez....his overall attacking contribution wasn't good enough, he didn't make the next step, a change of scenes were a blessing in disguise for him. You question Cole's role? Cole is a legend here and whether you like it or not, that cuts him a lot of slack, he accepted his new role and tried his best, not too bad. Bertrand and Cole were at different stages in their careers, Bertrand wanted to make a name for himself, maybe earn a spot in the England team, therefore he needed to play as much as possible, so i can understand why he left. Maybe i'm plain wrong, who knows. Di Maria is a winner, tested against the best teams in the world, best player in a winning UCL final, it doesn't get any better than this. Fair play to you for admitting that at the beginning Di Maria looked class. Van Gaal didn't replace him with anyone near his quality. We still have Willian who can run the show from the middle of the park. Our goners had achieved nothing so far, so different story, imo. Seeing all these Dutch guys i think Van Gaal has lot to say who the club buys. I think Van Gaal wanted Di Maria out, cutting their losses to make room for new guys, even if that meant to accept a loss. PSG ain't stupid, they made the most of this golden opportunity. You shouldn't forget that United saved his huge wages! So it's a bit different than with our nobodys. Before Jose came back, our Premier-League campaigns were miserable, we didn't stand a chance to compete for the championship, just lucky to get a CL spot each year. Jose changed that immediately, we were competitive from day one. Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, De Bruyne, Azpilicueta, perhaps Willian counts too were young and more importantly inexperienced, they weren't winners in the league and didn't know how to get the job done. We used the money from the sales/loans to bring in players like Willian, Matic, Fabregas, Costa, we got something right otherwise no champions. The big question is who is in charge of the transfer dealings? I don't think Jose wanted to get Papy, Baba and so on, at least at the end something was different. So is it possible that the board just sold Luis because they wanted to do what the player wanted? They did it for Cech, maybe that's how they do it? Maybe the Cuadrado flop changed everything, or has it always been the case? Jose made recommendations but the board is doing things self-sufficient? That's why he said it's difficult to be successful for years to come at Chelsea? Big speculation! I'm honestly surprised how well Christensen and now Musonda are doing at their current clubs. I said before that Jose should have used some of the young talents, hindsight has kicked in, not arguing with you, already a lost cause. But i keep wondering why Guus is doing it in a similar way. You call it stupidity, i don't know mate, they're earning a living with what they're doing, something must be there, mhh. Cuadrado flopped here big time, Salah to a lesser extent, nowadays they're playing a lot better, can't be the weather or fish & chips. Sorry for the length and the English!

Brilliant crossings from Lamela Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Hope they can hold on to their players, therefore you need money. A luxury Chelsea has had during the Abramovich era. Has Mahrez regressed a bit? Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Nice text mate. Tapatalk completely screwed me over with the formatting, sorry for the fuck up above! You're right, i got the number with Mata wrong, it's about 38 mil and not 50. Yes, your comparison and extrapolation is a job well done. What i failed to say or rather should have put more effort in, the first few months Di Maria played like a 'Galactico', he lived up to his potential, imo. Yes, because of the break in and personal problems with Van Gaal's man-management skills it all ended in tears. Maybe i'm wrong, but i never had the feeling with Mata, who always seemed to me at United as a luxury player. I've never seen Mata in a red shirt doing what he did best at Chelsea. Yes, cut him some slack because of the United team, but Di Maria coped a lot better with the pressure. That's a personal feeling, you put the numbers on the table, agree to disagree. At that time Jose felt that Lukaku wasn't ready. Lukaku missed the penalty against Bayern Munich. I think Jose didn't want to guarantee him a place in the starting lineup, there were Torres and Ba, yes, Eto'o coming in, but maybe he came because of Rom's departure, who knows. Perhaps Jose could have encouraged Rom into staying, i get where you're coming from, mate. But nowadays we have Costa around, who is comparable, imo. Again, you're not wrong, Bertrand is playing not bad, but in my point of view not that exceptional like last season. Back in the day Bertrand wanted to play more, difficult to achieve with a good Ivanovic and Azpilicueta in front of you. He waited a long time, but about 2.5 years ago it was a good call, imo. You can't have it both ways, sometimes you have to make the judgement call. At Chelsea Bertrand was not so good going forward, there was a lot of moaning going on. Turning to whoscored, predictions are never easy, we all get them wrong, that's why footy is so much fun, totally unpredictable. Analyzing afterwards are two different pairs of shoes. I take a team of experts seriously, i don't value your or other opinions because of this less, sometimes i disagree with whoscored like i did yesterday, but i take their opinion into consideration, just like others around here. Oscar is playing shit, but so are others. I think @Gilvorak sometimes exaggerated, but you play footy with 11 men, there is no such thing than only one culprit. He should be benched, yes, but Guus isn't doing it either, so the question which has to be asked is why?! Maybe because of the lack of balls, but i don't believe it. But congrats to you for seeing it coming, i for one didn't. Once Lampard said in the studio that according to him Loftus-Cheek is the only one who is ready to play, so we don't have many alternatives... We're both on a Chelsea board, not a Jose Mourinho board, so i think that speaks for itself. Sometimes one has to lose, you can't always win, this season is extreme, but perhaps it's a one off. You never know. Because of Jose Terry was back to his best and over two seasons one of the best defenders in the world again. After this season he's most likely gone, there are still Cahill and Ivanovic, but apart from that? Zouma (21), Azpilicueta (26), Baba (21) who is still here, guys like Christensen are out on loan and will come back. Jose wanted us to buy Stones, another young gem. Jose put Courtois in goal, a young gun, instead of Cech. It's not all dark and gloomy, imo. Now coming to the part 'he screwed us': Kevin is on the right track, big loss. As i said before, we have Costa instead of Rom, is it that bad? Personally speaking i don't think so. Costa can lead the line for a lot of years, no need to cry because of Lukaku, imo. Christensen, Baba, Zouma, Loftus-Cheek, Musonda, Kenedy, Traoré and so on, we have a lot of gems who we can nurture, future is bright. I agree that Jose made mistakes as a leader this season, but i think to say that about the whole 3 years is over the line. Jose dropped Matic and others, but all in all he trusted too long the same bunch, i have to agree with you. Assuming that he was lying is too much, not enough insight and knowledge, imo. At the end Jose threw his team under the bus, betrayal and so on, but before all of that, he protected his team. The downwards spiral was too difficult to overcome, being that far behind, bringing on the young guys who according to Lamps aren't up for it, is a difficult call to make. Guus is doing more or the less the same, two different coaches, that's not a coincidence.

Di Maria had 11 assists, he started out well, but later faded away. Mata had a few games, but never was able to produce what Di Maria did. Surely United have some problems, team looks disjointed, but you'd expect more from a 50 mil star player. Look at what Mata achieved with Chelsea. It's a joke, imo. Martial is doing the business, that's how it should be done, imo. Mata has had 2,5 seasons and more or less he did jack shit for most of the time, flop in my eyes. He's a nice guy, i get the sentiment. How is Bertrand playing these days? His good spell has come to an end, imo. Nowhere near the level from last season. Absolutely spot on to let him go, he is a good lad, would have rotten on the bench for all those years. Clearly deserves better! Last season Azpi and Iva were really good, could have anyone expected this outcome? I don't think so! I think Jose didn't want to let go of Luis, it took a lot of time to get Baba, wasn't his call. Sold an old guy and brought in a young one, that's for the future, that's exactly what a lot guys want. What about Costa? Costa or Lukaku, i think it's a close call! You can criticise Oscar all you want but what about back in the day? Oscar was playing very well, with hindsight it's always easy to say 'i told you so'. Kevin wanted to participate in the international tournament, should have better been a loan and these kind of decisions are on the board too. Why is Guus insisting on playing Oscar? Two coaches who clearly rate him?! Why didn't choose to promote Musonda? Why did whoscored give Oscar a 8.0 against Swansea? Best Chelsea player? Are they all that stupid and incompetent? In my view Oscar was poor, but there has to be more to it, otherwise they wouldn't play him. Maybe we all me included know nothing about footy. [emoji4] Jose should have fielded Loftus-Cheek more often, Musonda wasn't even selected, that's on him, very difficult to accept these judgement calls. Something wasn't right! In the end, the case Kevin de Bruyne should have been handled a lot better, but that's it, overall the big calls are difficult to get right and a lot of them were at least decent, imo. Jose accepted his failure, didn't sue the club and isn't bad mouthing. That's what i call a leader and proper Chels'.

Most of guys i know (fans of other clubs) would have gladly accepted an abymsal season but as the being the current champions. We all fucked it up, some people are more to blame than others, Jose played his part. He crossed a line, why did he do it? It's a travesty what happened, he is a Chelsea man, belonged to us and the club, lost for words and still very sad about it. I know it's easy to belittle him, i think it's direspectful, we don't talk shit about our goners, but whatever floats your boat, mhh. Willian was never as poor as Fabregas and Costa. Sometimes he was frustrating in the final third, but his overall style of play was ok, imo. Courtois had a serious injury and was out for months, yes, he should have protected his near post better, i agree, but he has excuses, imo. Should stop with the bad mouthing, but that's a different problem, nothing to do with his performances. One can only hope for better times next season.

Mata isn't cutting it at United, got the big bucks, nicely done, imo. KdB is a different story. But people going on again and again about one mistake, other things don't count, no wonder that it's getting more and more quiet in here...

He made mistakes, maybe wasn't as friendly as before. The press conferences were a bit grumpy, mhh. Buying some light fast attacking wingers, that happens under Jose's watch, but there's a blindspot, back in the day Wright-Phillips wasn't good enough. That was the start, imo. Speaking of mistakes, yes Kevin de Bruyne... but apart from that, the likes of Willian, Costa, Fabregas, integrating Courtois... give credit where credit is due, imo. Matic is a special case, one excellent year, we needed his stablity, i don't think his regression is solely on Jose, he himself is the main problem. Jose won us 8 trophies in 5 years, i think some gratitude is needed. I feel a lot of anger, but dividing the community is never a good thing. I'm a big fan of his, of course i will keep tabs on how he's doing, but like most of squad here we all watch Chelsea, because that's what we are. Yes, we try to find positive things to convince ourselves that Conte will be a success story, a even better one than Jose. But if he backs Oscar, the mood around here will change quickly, then you're in for a massive shock, because guns will be pointed at him. Oscar's not shining under Hiddink so far, last season he was useful, mhh.

Quite interesting that according to whoscored Oscar was our best Player, they gave him a 8.0. Second best was Begovic 7.2 and then Baba 7.1. I watched the match and thought Oscar was poor, but who knows. Whoscored are doing it for a living, mhh. Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Maybe he really played too much, maybe he'll never be the same again Euros coming up, the dude has to play and deliver the goods.

Delete, sry mods

Tactical decision and he already had a booking, Pep is smart, he prevented a possible red card, Vidal will get over it. Next week is CL, good opportunity to play again. Nothing to see here, imo. Didn't want to quote you @Kiwie, how did it happen? Still tired, mhh

I have a question for you Did you predict this outcome when Jose/board made the judgement call? Because back in the day Oscar was actually playing some good stuff, imo. Furthermore Jose might have been responsible for this decision, but nowadays it's Hiddink who loves fielding him. Why does he continue with this so-called madness when a lot of supporters severely question this decision? Is he really that stupid?! Or is there more to the story? Who knows....

For the record, i don't think he's talking about you @LDN Blue, there's another member who is active on both communities and looking to stir things up. The quoting went wrong, you're not the target, that's why i've liked his posting.

Benitez [emoji4]