LukakutoStamford

You should be excited as a long time Chelsea fan. You've acquired quite a bit of talent in the last two years. Some of it is ready now and some of it needs seasoning and development. It speaks to having plan of succession which is necessary in order to remain a viable contender for the big trophies. There's still more than needs to be done, imo, but locking up a player who is coveted by everyone and who may end up as the best player in the PL is certainly a massive step in asserting dominance.

Of course, it's not just about him. I have some reservations about some of the defenders as well as the double pivot. However, he brings a dynamism that I don't think any other player in the PL can bring, and the value of that is a greater ceiling re: potential or the potential to achieve something greater than is peceived to be possible on paper. Key word is potential. As you said we'll have to see how this will manifest over the course of the season.

To be fair Eden did have decent talent around him in 2010 with Cabaye, Payet, Gervinho, and Sow. 2011 was a different story. Clearty Chelsea can win without Eden. The question how high in the table would Chelsea end up if Hazard wasn't there and Chelsea couldn't bring in a replacement near his caliber.

I think it can look like he's disinterested and that might be part of who he is but there have minor things here and there like the hamburger incident and the twitter transfer stuff that can lead a person to believe that he's prone to be a bit erratic in mood/behavior at time. Don't get me wrong I'm nit picking. That's the thing he's very well built and at times he's prone to go down a bit easier that he should given his study low to the ground frame. It's part of drawing calls but he definitely dresses it up on occasion. Again, the guy is world class and I'm glad he's playing for Les Diables Rouges (no not Manure, but the Belgian NT) as it's been a while since the Belgian NT has been a side capable of getting into the WC and past the group stage. I'm waiting for the days when I can erase Wesley Sonck, Mbo and Emile Empenza, etc from my memory (although I thank them for their contributions) and get to see a new group of emerging Belgians who have the potential to be better than Pfaff, Clisters, Gerets, Scifo, Ceulmans, Van Der Elst, et al.

He isn't a diva type. It just that in the past at Lille there weer a few occasions where he let his play affects his mindset etc. It's more of question of learning that even when you aren't playing your best you can still give maximum effort. Unfortunately, there aren't many who can take his place and that's not limited to Chelsea. About 5-6 months ago I suggested that on form he was a top 5 player in the world and I was chastized for that opinion. The way you can tell that he's having a bad game is if he doesn't leave his mark/imprint on the game. He just has that "it" factor that the great players have. There's always anticipation when they get the ball that anything could happen. Not too many players in the world like that.

Not to mention, Hazard has made his last 13 league penalties. My criticisms with Eden usually center around his bad games. When he has a bad game he tends to play poorly and that can seep into his effort and attitude and he looks like he doesn't care and isn't trying. He also tends to go down a bit easy, which is understandable given his size but he really needs to skip his minor embellishments

I think Villa, Norwich, Southampton get relegated. Champions league: Chelsea, Man U, Citeh Champs League Qual.: Everton Europa: Swansea Arsenal needs a striker. AVB is going cripple Tottenham's chances Liverpool can't get out of the way itself and it's like they have spectre of losing hanging over that club. Newcastle might be a darkhorse for 4/5th Of course its early, so thing will undoubtedly change.

As was mentionned earlier by one of my fellow francophones, Eden has a poor match every 10 matches or so. So far I haven't seen him at his best form at Chelsea, but clearly he has been very good save for perhaps the match against AC Milan. Granted his epic matches don't occur on a frequent basis but when he has one of those (see Lille v. Lyon 2009 for example) he's absolutely unstoppable and it looks like he has a the ball on a string, and he'll start getting into his vast bag of tricks.

He hasn't played his best yet. I'll echo the sentiments of my fellow francophone that Hazard is just warming up. Of course he'll have bad games because you can't be on every single game but there are games where he shows himself at level that very few in the world can reach. He's already shown he can take a team like Lille and win a Ligue 1 title which is like winning the PL with Wolverhampton. He makes things exciting and probably the biggest criticism of him is that he sometimes tries to be too creative.

Well he was offsides and had no reason to be ... not to mention that he has been dreadful in this game.

I thought the long balls were for Lukaku ... oh wait he's at West Brom

I'm intrigued by Torres FC Fernando Torres JOSé TORRES - AURELIANO TORRES- JOHNNY TORRES Carlos Alberto Torres damn there just aren't enough Torres for Torres FC

Ferguson is just pissed that he had no plan to stop Fellaini. Ferguson didn't even improvise a plan and kept watching Carrick get abused without any concept of how to stop the abuse. Kagawa made some good passes and he seems to have good tactical awareness. Problem was everyone else for the mancs was a bag of arse. Otherwise Kagawa certainly set up some tasty chances and was dangerous. Hazard is more flashy and more of noticeable presence whereas Kagawa seems to be much more understated. Different types of players Hazard and Kagawa. ManU's issues have a lot to do with a slow and aging midfield. Scholes looked like absolute rubbish running around trying to hack at the toffees ankles. I was shocked he lasted the game without seeing red. The reds can load up on all the forwards they want but without a competent set of midfielders ManU is going to be in for a long year.

He's always been class. He plays a very physical style of play at times quite edgy. People don't rate him because he does the dirty work most of the time and because the ball doesn't stick to his foot like like the 5 foot 6 inch to 5 foot 8 inch guys. I think he'd be a vast improvement of the current double pivot because he's young and has such a high workrate, not to mention he's very physical. Chelsea is really missing those types of attributes especially in the midfield area. Fan favorite because of his work rate, nastiness, and physicality.

Joined team name is LesDiablesRouges

Except half of the Belgian national team

No, he was bought because he has scored more goals at his age than anyone except Ronaldo and his celing is incredibly high. Like I said way too early to judge whether he's Drogba or Emile Heskey or somewhere in between. He hasn't had a chance to play on a consistent basis since he joined Chelsea the loan to WBA should give him that chance and we'll see at what level he at after this year. My guess is that he goes to WBA this year and Fulham in year two if he needs a bit more maturation and then if he develops he'll be playing a large role for Chelsea at age 21.

I don't think it's an excuse but rather a statement suggesting that players mature at different rates. The whole deal with Lukaku is that his ceiling is so high that if he does fully develop he can be a dominant target man. Of course that's the real question can he develop will he develop and how much will he develop. That's why there was such a market for him as there aren't a whole lot of strikers in the world that are built like a NFL linebacker with immense speed. I'm not sure why people are coming so quick to judge him. He's always been a riskier longer term developing talent but the reward could be massive as in a 20+ goal scorer for Chelsea on a yearly basis. I don't think Piazon has that type of ceiling and there'c certainly nothing wrong with that.

He's an attacking mid who floats around the pitch and the issue right now is that he's not getting support he needs to distribute. Lukaku isn't helping things but the lack of a quality DM is killing Chelsea at the moment.

Everyone relax the guy won la ligue 1 player of the year two years in a row and helped Lille win a league title for the first time in 56 years. The PL equivalent would be taking Wolverhampton to the league title. He needs time to gel and get his footing.

If we're getting this thread now I can't imagine what the transfer muppetry is like

The game was terribly uninspired and frankly I think that in the first half the lack of a good DM/ball control mid really hampered attacking movement. Lukaku needs seasoning. He needs a couple of years on loan to play lots of minutes and imporve his skills. I really hope he doesn't go the way of Heskey but right now it's looking a bit dodgy for him. Hazard wasn't great not bad but he wasn't operating like he can. Cole was certainly a difference maker as was Essien. Kakuta is pish. Not a big fan of Luiz either. Defense was atrocious in the first 45.

Charly is considered one of the most promising talents in Belgium in the last 15-20 years, which is saying a lot considering that Hazard and Lukaku are not that much older than him. Of course you have to be careful with such young talent. The current Belgian golden generation talent potential is the greatest the country has seen and it seems there moer and more players are coming out of the woodwork. Now if only this talent would translate to the national team level like the Dutch have been able to achieve.

Well that was a frustrating 2 hours for us Belgians. Completely dominate Azerbaijan for 2 halves and have a mental breakdown in the 86th minute to cough up a 1-0 lead effectively ending Belgium's Euro 2012 hopes ... excuse my while I drown my sorrows. So pathetic for a team of this caliber to fail to only garner a tie at Azerbaijan.

Defense and Midfield need a revamp desparately. I'll keep banging the Eden Hazard drum. He brings pace, flair, and basically wrecks havoc on opponents by making them look silly. He's the creative presence that is lacking. Mata certainly helps and its clear he should be starting the rest of the way. Lukaku is an absolute brute. His touch isn't great at times but his physique is absurd for someone who just turned 18 and his cebrebral game is up to snuff. I like he was being aggressive and creating and putting pressure on the defense. He made a couple of linking passes which kept the flow heading towards goal. The lack of an attacking mid who can split gabs with incisive passing or paced dribbling really compounds the offensive woes Chelsea is currently facing.