Essien19

First things first, thanks for your response. An assessment of Mata is difficult because of his new role under Jose Mourinho. I can agree with that, but that's how life is, one has to make difficult decisions and i think your highlighted sentence says it all, Mourinho said it himself, he put his faith in Hazard and in my opinion, it has turned out to be the right judgement call, imo, even today i don't have a problem with it. Before this season, Mata didn't live up to his price tag at United (imo), then after some very good games this season it was difficult to welcome the departure, but since the recent international games Mata has been poor (again), my opinion, whoscored backs it up. At United there isn't a Ivanovic for whom he has to work for, but it's still not that special, imo. Mata is and has always been (sometimes) an inconsistent and frustrating player (like a surprise bag, you never know what you will get and his overall play is questionable), a good second striker, imo, Van Gaal isn't his biggest fan either. There we have two guys, Del Bosque never ever used him very often, no matter what form David Silva was in, still the man. Three coaches, i found a pattern, i think. You have condemned Cesc Fabregas and marked him as a liability, what about turning the tables and ask why Chelsea have become an immediate title contender for winning the league since Juan Mata has left? Mata pulled off great stuff at Chelsea, but he couldn't lead the team to the biggest title in England, in contrast to Hazard. So, i stated why i think it's been the right call to give Hazard more space and freedom. Fairplay to you for outlining Mata's positive aspects, his passing was still there. As much as you don't rate our number 8, back in 2013/2014 not only his heat map sets the direction, overall he performed, imo. Whoscored backs it up, again. At that time i very tough call to make, because on the one hand there was a promising prospect who lived up to the hype imo (you have a different opinion) and on the other hand we had the current player of the year who had to play in a different position which didn't work out that good. Yes, you complain about the lack of comunication between Mourinho and some of the players. Apparently Mourinho is a bit distant, but others like Fabregas are speaking highly of Mourinho. I think the truth lies somewhere between, in the end it's all speculation. That's what leaders do, they decide, instead of De Bruyne/Mata we have Oscar. The loss of de Bruyne is bad, you can pin it a bit on Mourinho, but a tango requires two, never forget that.^^ Instead of Mata having Willian around does it for me. Why didn't Granovskaia put a buy-back clause in the contract with Wolfsburg? Yes, Mourinho has to take some of the blame too. Again, i think the highlighted sentence hits the nail on the head. Fabregas can't dictate play, he can't structure nor do his defensive duties in a struggling squad properly. For me, he is an accuracy player, who gives you very few good passes, which can decide the match, but you have to handle the handicaps carefully. When playing in an in-form team, he can give you good moments, remember Spain, but funnily he played most of the time as a striker, i think. Irrelevant, i get your point on this one, finally. At least Loftus-Cheek is training, i think you underestimate a daily training day, that will work some wonders. Yes, playing time is better, but come on, the boy is just 19 years old and without professional experience, a total freshman. If we had a Bertrand done to him, i would have understood you better, but it's a bit early, isn't it? Loftus-Cheek should have played more in pre-season, i give you that. Mourinho stated that Costa could have been dropped some time ago, but he didn't do it. Maybe there is some remorse, don't know. For me Remy is an average striker, he scores some, but he misses some too (for example Stoke), gives you some runs, but he isn't offering much more. Is he currently better than Costa? Maybe, but imo Costa is a much better player and there is hope he will hit his form again. The situation seems delicate, but if i'm absolutely honest, i prefer Pedro upfront instead of Remy, more intelligent, offers more. The squad already consists of >20 players. Some players have been out of form, others hurt, that will decimate the available numbers. Would have Kondogba blocked the development of Loftus-Cheek in the long-term? I player like Pogba who is more suited to play a bit more upfront not? One can speculate, but if Kondogbia were in the squad, it would have been a lot more difficult for Loftus-Cheek, imo. Maybe Mourinho and the board made the wrong call... Yes, i think you got a point with the fatigue, but i think most of the players don't lack motivation, rather they are helpless, but that does reflect badly on Mourinho. For example before the third goal from Pool, i think the players panicted and no one were there to bring calmness to team. Leaders like Cech or Drogba should be in the squad, even Courtois isn't there, who imo is a better leader than Begovic, who can't safe a penalty -or make a good goal kick to safe his life. His coordination of the defence has been quite shocking so far, imo. I also wish that things were a bit different. Cheers, mate!

I'm sorry but using the wing position as an excuse for not living up to the required standard isn't good enough for me, because the position was nothing new for Mata. He had played as a winger before, under Emery it worked perfectly and that was one of the reasons why Villas-Boas signed him up. It's so easy to shift blame away from yourself, can you really make Mourinho responsible for performing that badly? Mata has been gifted with great abilities, but Mourinho and himself don't like each other very much. Mata: Who's fault was that? Surely there are two parties involved, both have to take the blame. Working under these circumstances isn't healthy. Back in the day, Chelsea wanted to fully comply with the Financial Fairplay, but Mourinho wanted to bring in Matic. Therefore the revenues had to be increased, to a greater or lesser extent selling Mata and De Bruyne and bringing in Matic haven't been turned out to be brilliant businesses, but in my point of view it's not that bad. Mourinho made Hazard player of the year, for some time ago he said: That's controversial. Can De Bruyne and Hazard consistently get it together? Thinking about the last world cup, not good enough, maybe next time, who knows. For the record, i agree with you that De Bruyne should be in the current Chelsea squad. But a lot of choices and tough calls have to be made, that's the way it is. Personally it's too exhausting, one small tear has to be enough. Overall Cesc Fabregas flopped in Barcelona. For that miserable time Fabregas has to take the most of the blame, but one has to take into consideration during that time Barcelona had no stability in their head coaches and some of the stars went through a tough spell or already started regressing (Xavi). Of course 3 years are a lot of time, especially in the football world so i don't want to bring too many excuses to the table. At Arsenal, he was a very young guy but already the captain and taking the league by storm, imo. Fabregas had the legs, i disagree, for me he didn't make them defensively a mess, guys like Song were responsible for that. Wenger wanted to build the team around Fabregas, Barca got into his head and Fabregas didn't want to stay anymore, we can never find out what they could have won. In Goonerland they are still dreaming... Oscar is, let me put it like this, a very frustrating player to watch. For me there is one thing in which he is still good at; reading the opponent who has the ball at his feet. Have seen it in the last match, his perception is good, imo. He knows where the opponent most likely will go to, maybe his approach draws too many fouls, but that's another thing. The match against Croatia in the first game of the recent World Cup is in my understanding a good example of Oscar. On his best, for me he is good at everything, but only short-term, the longer the match goes, the lesser good comes from him, fading away... One can call that inconsistent. You don't want to have that on your side of the pitch, but how to solve this, not easy. You criticised Oscar's passing, yeah, your right, now the questions arises; can't he do it or is it a mentality problem? Taking into account his (sometimes) very good crossings, i say it's mentality, but concentration isn't an easy thing to fix. At least a new midfielder has to come in now, Mourinho clearly wanted to get his fingers on Pogba (Tour-Eiffel), maybe we won't get him, but someone has to be bought. If the price is right and Oscar himself thinks that his time is up, then he can go, but i don't have a problem with having Oscar around, there is still undiscovered potential in my opinion and he offers more width in the squad, expensive, but that's how things are. Can't change -and can fully live them. Loftus-Cheek here, there, it seems the dude is all over the place, yes, also for me he has got quite some talent, but there are a lot things which he has to work on. Has to get more engaged during the game, has to improve on his passing (long balls imprecise as fuck imo) too, positioning not good enough and so on. During a very bad crisis i can agree with Mourinho that for some time experience is necessary, but a point will come, where he will field the kids. Mourinho: I can't disagree with you about the rotation and that it could have been handled differently. Spot on! You know and i know Mourinho believes in having a "small" squad around, that worked out well for him until this season, Ancelotti, another highly decorated coach shares that belief. Is it wrong, is it right, that's so binary, black and white, what you can't take away that Mourinho predicated problems before the upcoming season and wanted to bring in some new players. Yes, in public he said otherwise, but that's all strategy and trying to push the prizes downwards. Can't hate him for that, imo. Mourinho made an error with his attempt to get Stones, it's well known at "auctions", went into meltdown and the way back has quickly been blocked. So, you mentioned a lot of players and on some of them i can agree with, but for me it's way too simple to put the blame for their departures on the playing time. There had to be more than one thing wrong, weren't the up for it in the training ground, keep your head down and work hard. Willian did it and look how it has turned out? Not too bad, i think. What have all of your mentioned guys in common? You're only talking about the bad stuff, excuse me, but i can't call this a fair assessment. The club didn't get Stones done, nevertheless Mourinho dropped Terry or Cahill, in particular the handling of John Terry i call ruthless. So in my point of view, Stones would have got playing time here or Terry/Cahill would have upped their game significantly, both ways aren't that bad. A similar thing happened after the purchase of Cuadrado, Willian has matured quickly, imo. Stones could have been the new right back, there is more than one possibility to get playing time. At least now i think Stones would have been the perfect signing, the boy has got it all. Mourinho: At Chelsea, i believe most of our guys over the years were nice, but their abilities haven't always been world class. We all have seen the arrivals and departures of Moses, Schurrle, Salah, Cuadrado and a lot more. What do you prefer? Buying a player because he is currently doing well, maybe scored against you, Moses comes to my mind, but aren't the best solution for long-term. Can you wait for some time and then when the opportunity arrises grab it by the balls? I wouldn't have closed my door for a guy like Kondogbia, but i can understand where Mourinho and the board are coming from. The german powerhouse Bayern Munich has adopted to that "philosophy", over are the times of buying without serious consideration. This season, shit is hitting the fan, but Mourinho is a bit longer around than a few months and some things he got bang on the money. For example, according to Rafa Benitez, John Terry was finished, but Mourinho disagreed and look how it turned out for 2 seasons. Bringing back the lost son Matic, being ruthless with Ashley Cole, not afraid of replacing Cech with Courtois whose goal kicks have been a lot better, having confidence in Zouma, until this season getting the best out of a lot of players, playing unbelievable good football imo, creating a wonderful atmosphere within the fans and having a fan of the club in charge who's not taking shit from the media imo, matches against Atletico, Psg, Liverpool, Arsenal have been porn imo. It's not Disneyland, on some things one has to be critical of, but as i said before, failure is human, everyone makes mistakes, it's how we recover and there will be one. Sooner than later. At least that's my belief. As always, nice talking to you, sorry for my late response, been busy with work. See you around, mate.

You're right Diego Costa has been a late developer, he really had to work for it, still there are a lot of bad touches in his game. He definitely knows the streets, maybe with the combination of all the work he had to put in, he has become that aggressive. That shouldn't be an excuse, sometimes he's over the line, but i can only speak for myself, in general i like his style of play. Costa has proven himself in Spain and in England, he was one of the leaders for two Championships and one UCL final. In my point of view, that's why he is on a different level than Remy, who was never the top dog in his position at a top club. Now we can debate what's required for being a star player. You made fair points, Costa hasn't been one of the top striker for years, the timeline is manageable. Our opinions differ, not a problem for me.

I put it in this thread, because i think in the de Bruyne thread i would have been crucified. Mata was a great player at Chelsea, but not under Mourinho. At first you will say it's Mouinho's fault, but at United he couldn't perform either, at least for quite some time. Even nowadays he's very inconsistent and that's not only because of different tasks, Van Gaal also doesn't rate him that highly. The departure of Mata was the right thing to do, sadly (imo). Back in the day Mata was a great number 10, better than Cesc is nowadays. I have to agree with you. Your understanding of the abilites one player should have as a number 10, 8 or 6 is quite right imo. For me 28 years of age aren't too old, i think a midfielder has to perform till his mid thirties, at least i expected it from Fabregas. Boy, was i wrong, lol. But claiming that buying a 28 year old player is short-term thinking is for me over the top. Has Fabregas really de-stabilize every team he has ever played for? Do you think that he made Arsenal weaker during his spell? I don't think so, but if it's your opinion, so be it. After the sell of David Luiz, a guy like Javi Martinez should have been bought, i don't think that Mourinho would have been against it. It's like the member Oscar on here said, we never ever replaced David Luiz, that's the big problem. After participating in a pre-season Oscar would become a better -and more consistent player, i never ever bought the hype, yes hoped for, but that's it. I often questioned his abilities, but mate, claiming he is bang average is a bit over the line i think. A fully fit and in the right mood Oscar is a very good player imo; he is all over the pitch, quite intelligent whether with or off the ball, he has got vision, knows to pass and his shooting ability is fuckin' great. Thanks to some incomprehensible reasons he can't do it consistently what is a real shame. Maybe at the end of the season it's better to part ways, for Chelsea and for Oscar, because something is holding him back, elsewhere he can live up to his potential and i wish him that, he's not doing this shit on purpose, can't believe it. I feel a lot of anger towards Mourinho and i think for some of the things you can held him responsible. I have read a lot about this imagination of playing Lukaku, De Bruyne, Luiz, Betrand and some of the goners. Maybe there would have been some massacres, but consistently? We never know, maybe, maybe not. Before Mourinho's second spell, Chelsea was playing offensively, "mazacar" destroyed some teams, but the league was out of reach. Mourinho changed some things, the team has been a lot more compact till this season and guys like Matic or Willian have been added to the team, these dudes aren't that bad, are they? Terry and Cahill haven't been up for the required standard this season, that's clear, so a possible combination of Zouma and Stones could have happened. You never know. Maybe Stones would have played as a right back instead of Ivanovic, in my view that would have been a lot better. Jose likes having a rather small squad, but filled with good players who can play in more than one position. I think 2-3 players should have been added, Mourinho himself said he gave his letter of recommendation to the board early after the Championship last season. Yes, i think he only wanted top-notch guys like Pogba, Stones and Griezmann, here we could have an endless discussion, whether one should wait or go for a lower class (no disrespect meant). Is Jose Mourinho really that incompetent when we're speaking about his rotation abilities? How did he manage the Benzema and Higuain situation at Real Madrid? I agree with you that Mourinho should have used a guy like Filipe Luis more often, but i'm sorry, it isn't always been this way. Long story short: i agree with you that Jose made some mistakes, but for me that's human. Every Chelsea manager in the past was far from perfect, failures are what makes you human. I have read that Granovskaia speaks highly of Jose Mourinho in front of Abramovich, she knows that the blame has to be shared within the club. We have to agree to disagree on some points, others we can agree on. Could have been worse, friend.

Sorry mate, but i disagree with your examples. Remy has and will always be a sub at this club, he is too limited in his play. I think he knew it since the beginning. Has he ever truly performed as a starter? Diego Costa did, therefore he is allowed to make other claims (imo). Today, he behaved wrongly and will get a fine, but for me that's it. There is a difference between Remy and Diego Costa! At that time Costa has made a name for himself in Europe, whether he is top class or not is irrelevant, everyone has already seen his abilities back than. What really happened with Lukaku and De Bruyne one can never tell, with all due respect it's all pure speculation. For me De Bruyne (at least at that time) wanted to play and couldn't wait a few games, too greedy, maybe now he is a changed man. Lukaku was afraid of the competition, he had around ~19 goals in the league and wanted to play more. Yes, they should be at the club, who's responsible? Mourinho has to take some blame, but imo he's not alone, the players too and the board, a loan would have been possible, but they wanted to cash out. Maybe you disagree with me, but these aren't facts, everyone has his opinion, no problem. His behaviour is not welcomed at the club. But taking into account the heat and frustration of the moment, i won't be too harsh on him. I believe in second chances and rehabilitation, fine him and get on with life. That's what i would do, knowing the drama queen Mourinho and Abramovich who attaches importance to the public image of the club, you never know what's going to happen... He will get punishment, your right Sir. As i said before Costa is on a different level, that's the thing with the so-called stars, sometimes they are difficult to handle. He will get in line, needs tough love, Mourinho is up for it.

Costa was out of line, but look at the cirumstances (warming up, then all for nothing) furthermore in the heat of the moment he behaved badly and because he cares so much in my point of view. He will get a fine and after that another Chance, for me it would not be the right choice to throw him under the bus. You can't have it both ways. Costa has character and personality, it's difficult to handle but i personally prefer it much more than a yes man. Hazard behaved differently, good on him, but that's how it is. I like our own Keane even during the bad times, but criticism is okay. Selling him not, but if you feel differently, not a problem. Cheers

Diego Costa has earned it. At least he isn't a yes-man, there are disagreements in the office, now he will sit on the bench for some time, but i won't write him off just yet. Some disagreements have to be allowed, we're talking about adults and not children, lol. There's already way too much drama in it, the tabloids are absolutely loving it sticking it you Chelsea, Christmas has come early. In my point of view, Costa will come good again and more importantly he is one of us, can't hate him for showing passion, but as always around here some guys are looking for a fight and in the end for some bannings, sad, but that's the way it is.

Some people are quite happy that they didn't watch the game because they like being pessimistic and writing told you so. What's wrong? Get behind the team, hate against Jose, hate against Fabregas, i don't like it, but do if if it makes you happy. But being proud of not watching the team play is really upsetting me, if watching the Club doesn't make you happy, then i don't know what to say.

Lloris with a world class safe against Hazard. Much better performance, we could have won and Spurs couldn't do jack shit against us. We're getting better and better, can live with that.

Pedro is our Nr. 9. I think that isn't too bad, could turn out quite well, at least better than Costa nowadays. Oscar in the team, didn't see that one coming, big big game for him, hope he will come good, not too bad playing him, because i'm fed up with Ramires and who else? Loftus-Cheek not in the London Derby! Ivanovic is okay, would have preferred Baba, but he brings experience to the Team

It's not always been this way at Barca, as far as i'm concerned, some time ago he was called a headless chicken for a reason, but he has matured quickly, i point the finger at Enrique, because since the second half of 2015 he has been great.

Enrique will a find a place for him. In the past he did a very good job as a problem fixer. He identified possible problems and fixed it. Rakitic is very intelligent and alongside Busqutes doing a great job filling the holes. Luis Suarez, one thing and one thing only, he is very selfless, the rest speaks for itself. That attitude is very important! Maybe Vermaelen is debatable because of his injuries, but even he makes them a better team and gives them more options, cross your heart, would have you suspected that during his last Arsenal days? Having Turan around is great, guys like Neymar play every match, yes, stars want that, that's their spirit, but sometimes they have to be rested, otherwise they can't produce the 1% more in a decisive knock out UCL game after the winter break. Same goes for Vidal, perfect timing for bringing in a possible Alves replacement, enough time to make tests and find out whether he will be up for it. Would have loved if Mourinho had done that. Enrique has his problems, but tactically (take a look at their defending) and as a person, he doesn't take shit from anyone, he has his role to play. He isn't afraid of benching Messi or criticising Neymar for showboating the opponent. That's exactly what Barca were missing after Pep. I'm not saying that Enrique is the best coach in the world and Chelsea should pull out the wallet, but for Barca, he is simply the man, at least that's my opinion. Cheers.

Busquets and Iniesta have say (speaking of the Clasico), irrelevant, all of these guys have been playing great. Alves, what a comeback, unbelievable and Alba continuing his great form from last season. Still an increase seems possible, Turan and Vidal will soon be part of the group...

I think the tasks are shifting during a game. Fabregas plays as a number 10 too, but sadly he isn't dangerous enough; passing passing and again passing, that's what he's all about and that isn't good enough, not when the team needs more, a midfielder who brings structure and calmness to the game. Is it to much to ask for covering the right ground? Yes, Loftus-Cheek, Matic and others haven't been good enough either, but someone has to start! Maybe we should go after Kroos, he features everything that i want to have, maybe lack balls, but i can settle for that. For me Fabregas at Arsenal was on another level, he was the complete package and able to do that. He couldn't go on like that at Barca, now he has regressed even more and we're in big trouble. The last 2 games weren't that bad imo, maybe, but Spurs are a different class nowadays, big test ahead of the spaniard. For me, Fabregas has been playing better then Oscar, at least during the last weeks. The thing is, afterwards it's easy to tell you that, yes i know that you predicted Fabregas downfall. Back in the day Oscar was playing really well, only a few could have predicted the upcoming disaster. I didn't see it coming... Mata is a good player, but not a deep lying playmaker, he is more of a striker, i think on paper, Fabregas could add more to the team. Jose thought that too. Maybe i'm out of line, but i prefer Fabregas instead of Mata, only as a player, as a human being Mata all day long. Shortly after Mata and De Bruyne had left, Oscar started regressing, we had to add some more creativity to the team, Fabregas won us the league, so not that bad, but in last transfer window we should have brought in a guy like Javi Martinez, who certainly knows how to defend. Yes, Rakitic would have been the better choice, but what can i say, what can i do. It's too late now. Tomorrow a season defining match lies ahead of us imo, when has Mourinho ever gone with Oscar as a starter in a big away game? I really don't get it: Oscar is fit, he is young but alreay experienced, played during the world cup in his home country, pulled a great match against Croatia, took the piss out of Pirlo, scored some "worldies" in the league, definitely knows how to handle pressure, but this season his performances haven't improved one fuckin' bit. I'm clueless what to do. Maybe when the team is ticking, therefore 2 new defenders and a new number 6 are required, he could up his game. Big if! You are not wrong, the outcome is bad, but the lack of depth baffles me. Most of the elite teams have more depth, at our house we're always having to pick three of Matic, Fabregas, Ramires, Mikel and sometimes Oscar (but not reliable (big games)), Loftus-Cheek being left out. That's on the board, Mourinho didn't make that choice, if he had a say, some of the goners would have been still at the club.

Has been poor again, even the caf gets angry.

So Fabregas is a workhorse? I'm a bit confused now....

The german, too good.

United are truly lost and hopeless. Apart from Martial, no one can do one thing. That's how it should be, the united way....

great vision by de bruyne, have to give to thim. Today, he has been playing well.

He is a smart man, Chelsea have a lot Brazilians in the team and they are constantly looking forward to get one more because they have worked out quite well so far. Why Chelsea? Because there ain't no such thing as a shark tank here, we take good care of our own, no need to join Barca or Real, maybe Bayern Munich, because they also value a big family but they don't need him, there squad is alreay crowded... If I recall correctly Douglas Costa would have liked joining Chelsea too, we're regarded highly by those guys, one can criticise, but give credit where credit is due. In the foreseeable future there will be changes at Chelsea, a chance is all what a guy like Teixeira needs. I'm starting to like Teixeira more and more. Texeira: We have to assure him that Jose Mourinho is staying with us for a very long time, otherwise a transfer would become more difficult, because he knows what most of us know: JOSE MOURINHO IS SIMPLY THE BEST.

@Johnnyeye The mods on this site don't fuck around, i haven seen it multiple times that when the subject changes a bit , they will go after you. So because of fearing for my own and your safety, i decided to copy your post in here, because from my understanding, we're talking most of the time about Texeira. Yes, the understanding between Texeira and Willian shouldn't be underestimated. I agree with you mate. You seem to have great knowledge about Texeira and in general Shakhtar, i have seen them play too, but not as often as you. Just some of the UCL games. A flop is a flop, i think Texeira will command big bucks, whether we're talking about 30 or 50 mio., it's gonna be expensive. I think we can currently call Texeira the top dog at Shakhtar, the team has been build around him, i think. Now the million dollar question arises, can he do it at Chelsea? You mentioned "flair" and "goal scoring prowess", but at Chelsea other tasks will also become important, how will he cope with that? I for one am quite undecided yet, have to watch more games to think about that possibility. Cheers.

I think before Bayern Munich took Costa, there were rumours about an interest in Willian. Stroey already said it, at the end of the day it comes down to tactics, role and freedom. It's up for speculation and discussion, but i firmly believe that Willian could have been as good as Costa at the german powerhouse. They field so many attacking players in the line-up and the whole team goes forward, there would have been a lot more space and colleagues for the interplay. For Brazil, one can see glimpses of what he is able to do. I wonder how good would be Willian as a fullback, in my point of view he could florish, maybe that's what Pep thought back in the day.

he has been banned, really sad, but responding to him is now useless.

I think you're speaking about the chance near the end of the game, yes Sterling should have buried it, despite of his recent goals, sometimes Sterling can't score to safe his life, very frustrating to witness. Pellegrino couldn't believe it either. Overall, i was very disappointed by De Bruyne today, i kept my fingers crossed for a City win, because England are in desperate need of points, we need the fourth spot for UCL qualification to remain to England.

Pogba was immense today, imo, he ran the show, we should throw everything we have got to bring him to Stamford Bridge as soon as possible. I think we desperately are in need of such a gem; he is unpredictable and constantly creating chances, sometimes his passes are a bit sloppy, but overall he he's able to play beautiful and accurate long balls, he will improve with his concentration and his sloppy passes will decrease, i'm totally optimistic about that. He gave de Bruyne a lecture how the game should be played.