LukakutoStamford

Say what? Eden wasn't great but he hit the post created some great chances in the first half and creates 3 crosses that no one felt like running into the six yard box for .... Costa was the one today who was terrible with his aimless a plodding dribbling.

Nice sentiment but impossible as the Italian league is not well off financially.The Spanish league will likely follow suit unless there is a dramatic reversal of fortune in Spanish economy. I can't foresee Spanish banks continued to fund Real Madrid and if the Euro disappears Spain is unequivocally screwed

Vertonghen just needs out of Tottenham. He's a talented player but certainly has marked weaknesses. Frankly I think he's much better suited as a DM rather than a CB.Most of the Belgian back line is made of players who would probably work out better as defensive midfielders. I don't think Verts is a good fit for Chelsea but I was shocked that Barcelona went for Vermaelen in lieu of Verthonghen.

It's likely a salary ploy but let's humor his desire to leave. I think that Barca has become such a circus that he wants to leave. Also he wants to play in the PL. It's such a different league than the Spanish league and it's more televised/popular than the Spanish league. Cesc is one of his best friends and perhaps he's bored of Spain.

It's happening! *insert meme here* I love to see it simply because it would break the interwebz, and Hazard + Messi = Le Sex

Tibo

Tielemans is the CM answer and the sooner he gets in there the sooner Belgium will have a chance to win intn'l tournies. Even 17 he's good enough for what Belgium needs I just hope Wilmots will realize so he can get in place for the Euros. Also need Benteke in form. He's still rusty but you can see he's starting to pick up form. As for KDB he plays a lot of long range passes which drops his completion rate to the mid seventies. He also has one of the highest cross completion rates in all of Europe. The fullbacks need to do more. I'd love to see De Laet get a chance at RB even though I think VDB has been pretty good. No clue what to do with the left back position unless somehow Denayer can play out there. Might almost be better off to play a 3-4-3 or some variation thereof

The hips don't lie. No on Pique

The hips don't lie. No on Pique

I agree although if they do click on the national team interchanging free roles it will be something to see so far De Bruyne has been the one to take the lead. It is a shame because I do think it was never a question of skill but fit. But what can you do. I think Kevin will move on to Bayern in the not to distant future

Quick lock all the players threads .... oh wait nvm this isn't RAWK. How people can argue so feverish over this guy is beyond me

Leekens just sucked. Wilmots for all of his flaws is excellent in terms of getting players to play with passion for the NT. He may not be a tactical wizard but considering that in 17 competitive matches he's won 13 drawn 3 and lost 1. I think Hazard is better suited for the 10 ultimately and I think it's a matter of time before that becomes his role.

This. He's the type of player that needs to play every game to stay "connected" when he's playing sporadically he's worse off than most player because he's streaky and he needs multiple games to get a feel for the game

Eh? He's most effective as a play maker a la Scholes. He hardly hurts Eden's game as KDB plays more of long passing game and he's quite good at providing a final ball. They certainly can co exist on the field. KDB is most effective being able to play a free AM role.

Cabaye would be an excellent add plus he's got great chemistry with Hazard

Not sure what is more ridiculous OX> Sterling or that Baloteeli isn't shit ....

KDB is the resurrection. He's been the best player in Bundesliga thus far ...

Lol at Bale as the number 3 player in the world #noteventop20

Starting in today's Europa League match versus Apollon

Damn Eden you're killing me with your lack of finishing. I think the way he takes penalties gives some insight as to why he struggles in 1 v1 situations. With penalties he waits for the keeper to move before choosing his location whereas with 1 v1 most of the time you have to choose first and you don't have time to wait for the GK to make the first move. I hope he spends 1000s of hours next summer with Thibault on 1 v1s

Real Madrid could be a destination due to his reverence of Zidane. However I think a lot of you are selling Chelsea's role as "Superclub" a bit short. While Chelsea doesn't have the history of a Real Madrid Bayern etc it is developing it's own legendary history. I think few are taking into the chance to be the legend at a top club versus being a legend at a club with so many legends that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle even as a top tier player. Doesn't mean that Real isn't alluring but I think people are viewing Chelsea like Arsenal or Liverpool rather than in the eschelon with Bayern Real Madrid Barcelona United. It may well be that Eden continues to star at Chelsea wins some PL titles maybe a CL or two and wins a ballon d'Or and sows his legacy as the greatest Chelsea player ever. It still amazes how people who see him play on a week in week out basis and still vastly underrate him. Right now he's one of the top 5 players in the world using all available statistical metrics, but since too many people are wrapped up in goals and assists they fail to see how vast his impact is on the game. He's the Belgian version of Iniesta who essentially creates massive amounts of space and mismatches for his teammates to exploit he also iniates a large majority of attacks which don't always result in a goal or an assist but many of those goals and assists would occur if Eden isn't draw 2-4 men in close proximity each time he touches the ball.

Yes he's not a box to box he's a playing making AM. As for being weak as Mata I don't know if I agree with that characterization. He's built similarly to Oscar. Too early to tell if he'll get a shot at Chelsea. Most people thought he was a thrown in to Eden's deal and here we are 2+ years later and he's won a Belgian golden boot and is a squad player pushing more time on a team that's #2 in the Bundesliga. Very few players explode on the scene at such an early age like Eden. So for the remaining 99.7% it takes time.

No clue mate. Does it matter really?

It has nothing to do with country of origin in any players case. The issue with Lukaku was that his style of play didn't fit with Mourinho and he's severely limited as a target man at the moment. Re: De Bruyne it didn't work and I suspect it was De Bruyne's poor tackling/defensive work that did him in Re: Thorgan no one can tell if he's talented enough to make it at Chelsea. The bigger issue is that absent Eden the AMs appear severely limited in the ability to create and distribute for others so much so that God forbid anything happen to Eden Chelsea would be in serious difficulty in terms of creating goals. My comment was moreso an indictment of the current AMs on the squad rather than Thorgan's skill/ability level. Truth be told if prompts Jose to get Sterling/Reus etc to fix the issue then great. Thorgan is a promising player that could help provide a different playmaking skill set than his brother as to whether that will happen at Chelsea is anyone's guess.