Blue Armour

Kante himself thinks Hazard has been the difference maker....Its not just him in the team either, Pedro has also made the same comment. Players are those who usually make more rational judgments in this regard. I would say Kante has been an excellent supporting act. Probably the best in the business.

Its 90% likely to be fake. Other websites that report on these, such as footyheadlines.com claim as such. Plus, the more obvious reason for it to be fake is that the 3 kits don't match the color scheme that was 'officially' leaked. I'm leaning towards the leaks from 'breatheChelsea.com' for being the real thing

The goal scoring records are one thing, but I still wonder how he would fit in our system. I agree that he would have uses for our squad, especially if we're playing on the counter, because of his tendency to wait on the shoulder of the last defender and his tremendous speed when he moves into space. His link up play has also improved But week in week out? Most of the teams that we play at the bridge don't like to give us space. They pile up their defenders around the box, and harass our attackers. Now that we're at the fag end of our season, that's the only thing opposition teams seem to be doing. Can Lukaku tolerate the kind of abuse Costa received at the hands of Shawcross and Martins Indi, and still be a threat? (Granted he would not lose his head like Costa, but I'm not so sure about him winning the physical battle). I can't see him being the main man, or a constant member of the starting 11 because of this. Would he be content being second fiddle? We know how that turned out last time. As has been the case for the good number of years from the last decade, Chelsea have always thrived on two things: A good defensive midfielder and a good target man up front like Drogba. In my opinion, Diego Costa and Batshuayi are better when it comes to the latter.

I think Hazard has a bigger connection with Chelsea than most fans realize.., and I think its mostly because of his connection with the last generation of Chelsea players, and appreciation for what they've accomplished here. Joe Cole and Didier Drogba were a big influence on his decision to come here (not discounting our win in the CL the year that he joined). He also looks to get along well with Frank Lampard and JT. When you listen to recent interviews with Lampard and Joe Cole, I think they definitely see him with having great potential to carry their mantle forward for the next generation of Chelsea players.

The game might still be too soon for Zouma...I think he's had some trouble dealing with aerial challenges in the few cup competition games he's played in, even though that's one of his biggest strengths when fully fit. Realistically I think Zouma will 'return' only next season after proper conditioning.

Well said. Echoes a lot of my sentiments really.

Really important save. I would have fancied United to shut up shop if they had equalized

Little N'golo

Even if it was largely due to Hazard's outrageous bit of skill, not many players would have had the presence of mind or the ability to pull off that on-touch finish like Costa did. Its because of things like this, that I think he's entitled to exceptions. And for your last statement, we could easily turn it around and ask how many chances we create simply because of his off-the ball movement.

Regardless of what he does when he tries to 'dribble' or his stray first touch, you can't deny how much his hold-up play and attacking runs help the two attackers behind him. Its stuff like this that mostly goes unnoticed To me the performance put in by strikers like Costa and Drogba is satisfactory. Virtually 'anonymous' for periods of the game in terms of output, but can make the difference when it matters.

I would be surprised if Conte wasn't paying attention to those runs. Fabregas is easily our biggest goal threat from central midfield. And that's an asset to any top team.

Don't think it has to do with the overall 'strength' of the team,...rather, it depends on the type of team (and their strategy) we play against. If you look at the City game this season, he was very influential. He just needs some players around him in midfield to relieve pressure and do the dirty work. Enter Kante, Pedro, Matic, Willian.

Its not just from this video, but if you look at his reaction to Aguero's tackle on Luiz, Chalobah seems to get along very well with the rest of his team-mates. We need characters like that in the dressing room moving forward

Diego Costa: Didier Drogba the inspiration behind my success at Chelsea http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/02/09/diego-costadidier-drogba-inspiration-behind-success-chelsea/

I tried searching but I'm having trouble finding the actual article that I read, because I can't recall the newspaper source. It was from 2016, close to the start of the season The only comparison that explicitly mentions mind games, that I've been able to find now is this blog, although the author here gives a different kind of reasoning for his ranking. http://www.discountfootballkits.com/blog/the-battle-of-the-managers-201617-season/ Also ironically, in the last couple of days there have been articles that have come saying how mind games are no longer a thing.

I find it funny when the journos sometimes create these 'manager' ratings, comparing their performance in different categories, and then try to classify Conte as someone who is too naive to engage in mind-games and the lot, because he's too 'gentlemanly'. What I see in Conte, is someone who is very shrewd and very carefully chooses his battles. Doesn't tell the press more than what is needed and can be pointed in his response.

Was at the game today, after turning down that opportunity to play in Brazil. Wonder if there are any plans in motion for a re-union.

Have to mention at least a word about the professionalism of this man. Not playing as often as before, coming on a sub against his old club, and then shows good composure to put the ball in the back of the net. Subdued celebrations, but still kept going forward to create chances.

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin. - H. L. Mencken Just putting this out there.

Can't put in enough words to describe how satisfying that was to watch. We've seen it before when he's waltzed past several defenders only for the keeper at the end to pull of a fantastic save, or for the shot to go inches wide. But to get this in a big match, just makes it all the more special. Definitely one for the highlight reels.

Came in a January transfer window, and left in one as well. Unbelievable performances at the back and in front of goal. A big presence in the dressing room. Not enough words to highlight his contributions to the team. Ever since he secured his starting spot under Carlo in 09-10 he has never looked back. I just wished he could have stayed with us for this entire season.

I agree with most of your post, but not entirely with the part in bold. I think there are plenty of games where he alone was the difference, maybe not this season, but in seasons past. Just think of the games where he was the only one on the scoresheet and we failed to get a win. In recent games, I sense that he's just not straying out of his comfort zone too much, especially with the rest of the team playing well for the most part. Yesterday, I think he tried to make a difference, but no one else was doing a good job combining with him. Costa was atypically sluggish until Pedro and Fabregas came on.

Yeah, our play was pretty poor in the early half. Oddly the play, as well as Costa himself, seemed to improve after the substitutions, but I guess that was more down to Pedro running at Liverpools tired defence, and Fabregas adding an extra man in midfield.