Blue Armour

Don't want to jinx it, but he was good today. Good going forward and defensively no mug.

Brilliant player and humble attitude to go with it as well.

I'd rather stop talking about both seasons altogether, and move on to the next one asap.

The vintage shirt looks better. Narrower hoops, darker shade of blue

Its also one of the reasons why players like Hazard are severely underrated by opposition fans. Because he isn't exactly the 'goals and assists' type of player

Hey its just my perspective. Some players I feel just deserve it because of what they contribute to the club, not just in results but also defining how we play on the pitch. I used to say the same for Drogba too ...especially during that end 2011 and early 2012 when a lot of people on this forum were ready to give him the boot.

Would argue that he's as committed to the club as Azpi or Willian are...considering he could have easily left a couple of seasons ago.

You're telling me Drogba never went down easy? If you told me Drogba was very clever with how he went down (i.e. choosing the fouls to 'dive' for) then I would agree

Whether board really feels that way is up for debate, .but I do see your point. Even if that there were indeed the case though, I still think the alternative is far more risky. IMO, I think the board has just been trying to act too clever in the past few windows and the strategy backfired on them. They thought that making someone like Drinkwater play in Chelsea would elevate their game, ala Kante, and that giving up experienced Matic for upcoming but untested Bakayoko would work like a charm. Without a director of football, and champions league lure, we will struggle to attract known players of top caliber. Fair comments, these are subjective things, and I'll admit Kante is one of a kind as well. Azpi, I'll give points for his commitment to the cause.

My opinion is that he's the best of our sorry bunch. I'm just saying that Hazard should be the last person on the squad to be scrutinized.

Honestly hope we can nick one player from United next season....payback if nothing else. Either Martial or Luke Shaw

Our top scorer he is.

And what is the bigger picture? Replacing him with 3 Drinkwaters or 3 Barkleys? (The irony is that after all the recent results, its Drinkwater that's hankering for a move. Wouldn't mind that actually. Probably means Loftus-Cheek can come back and take his spot) Hazard is the closest we've had to a Zola, Drogba or Lampard. Its pretty much guaranteed that we won't get even one, let alone 3 players of that quality.

Young was a poor choice of words. I meant someone who still doesn't have much experience of leading the line as first choice striker. Plus, at 25 there is still every chance of improvement. You can't say he's at his peak.

Think he's still working back to the player he was. Especially before the winter break...was very deadly when he first started playing for us. As a young player, I think he still deserves more than a second chance. Just need to see how confident he was playing in the first game against Utd: Heck even Bakayoko was playing so well back then.

Eden Hazard: Chelsea must come together to 'achieve something' http://www.espn.com/soccer/chelsea/story/3449934/eden-hazard-chelsea-must-come-together-to-achieve-something

Yeah good full-backs are a must. Luke Shaw would be a good pick considering our options (or lack of options due to the CL spots). Not sure if Mourinho/Utd would be kind enough to return the favor we did with Matic,

To me the 3 at the back formation is the best thing and the worst thing that Conte brought to the club... Best because of the obvious reasons.. Bad because we've stockpiled on players suited to this formation., and also because we seem stuck with it, unable to revert to any traditional 4 at the back formations to yield any success. To me, this is the biggest cause of concern at the moment. It might have been a better situation if we had smart, skilled wingbacks on both sides but that's not the case. We are suspect defensively and playing with a handicap in terms of attacking options.

On the topic of long term vs short term... I guess the clues were there from the beginning of this season, when they didn't opt to extend Conte's contract length. Clearly learning from the Mourinho debacle. Looks like the club was always fearing for the worst.

True that. Cech b/w 2008-2009 was in horrible form. Thankfully we never gave up on him, and we reaped the benefits because of that. Lousy defense in front usually results in lousy goalkeeping. Just look at Cech at Arsenal. Courtois is having a terrible season, and people can pick plenty of games and fish plenty of newspaper quotes to bash him. I will admit that the Barcelona game was terrible for a keeper of any standard. But his record with us in seasons prior, has been decent overall. IMO, goalkeeper is one of the last positions on the starting eleven I would want to dive into the next transfer market for. Plenty of other squad roles that need filling before that.

Legendary Didier Drogba charges Chelsea ahead of London derby http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/legendary-didier-drogba-charges-chelsea-ahead-of-london/5rh4z6lxy7zy1n1km3bp494o6

Time to find out if he really hates Tottenham

Exactly my thoughts...there's also that stupid ballboy incident that the opposition fans (and occasionally the media) like to bring up just to paint a nasty picture.

There should be no doubt regarding that...the players we've gone for are mainly to strengthen our '5 at the back' formations. He might have got his 2nd or 3rd choice picks for the positions, but they are definitely his picks.

Well he can't ignore a question when asked right? There is a thing such as media relations..I think its just his polite way of saying that its not the right time to discuss. After all, its a two-way street...the contract renewal is not up to Hazard alone.