CHOULO19

Can we please make a distinction between best in the EPL and best in the world? There are not many quality defensive midfielders in the EPL, and I think we can agree that Matic is clearly the best (no, Yaya Toure is NOT a DM). But when we are talking about the best in the world, there are on one hand a number of world class players who have been consistently performing at the biggest stages for years and on the other Nemanja who has burst onto the scene last season and has been impressing and has justified the hype around him. Therefore, I think both opinions, that he is the best in the world, and that saying so is overrating him, are completely valid ones. So, can we all stop patronizing each other about either opinion? How about actually moving to discussing the abilities and qualities of each? PS: Also, how about moving the discussion to the Matic thread?

Never been on another Chelsea forum before. I know I'm biased, but fucking hell, the 'discussion' there is more boring than the crappy design (absolutely no idea how anyone can bare to look at that for more than 10 minutes). Someone there just literally labeled deviating from the general consensus about the Lampard issue as "heresy"! :lol: But it was good to see a few TC rejects again, spouting bullshit as they so often do. Good reminder of what a fantastic job the staff here has done by banning such idiots

My memory may be failing me, but wasn't totally crap for them in the WC? Miss you too habibi

Fixed*

Posh...

That pic is from last season and has been revived so some twitter accounts can get a few retweets. But the point that Jose made stands. You look at the kind of protection that Messi and Ronaldo get in La Liga or even Ronaldo himself when he was here in the EPL, but Eden gets nothing near that. This season he isn't even getting less protection than any other player. I understand the need to keep the game flowing for the sake of the audience and the tv channels, but when it is clear strategy by the opposition and they start hacking the same player down from the start of the match, the ref really needs to get his cards out early or it gets out of hand like it did against Sunderland and Southampton and ends up actually ruining the game, if not, god forbid, the player himself!

I have not seen him attempt it so I would not put it past him..

A pessimist? You'll fit right in around here! Don't be so quick to surrender before the whistle goes, in case you didn't know, we just shipped 5 against a bang average Tottenham... On Watford, can you tell us what formation do you usually play? Who's the biggest goal threat and who should we look out for? And while we have you here, could you please remind us how inconsistent Chalobah was when he was with you? Because most of our fans seem to remember him only as a combination of Patrick Vierra and Yaya Toure in his time at Watford...

Pricks at BeIN changed the broadcast schedule and are going to cover the City game instead Gonna have to find CTV streams. Hey, could you be a dear and level with me on one thing, please: Are you planning on making any actual contribution/insight about Watford, or should I save both of our times and just ban you now?

@Special Juan, any idea if he'll play RB or CB?

From what I could see from the highlights, the Everton match had more team rather than individual quality, from both sides.

Never mind, found one:

I think a top keeper like Thibaut should be saving the first goal most of the times. It was a very powerful shot, but it was along the ground from 35-40 yards out; it didn't really move or deviate and he saw it all the way. Should have gotten down a bit quicker. Not really "blaming", but I think he's capable of saving that.

Couldn't watch the match (not sure I should considering the result), but after seeing the highlights, I feel a bit better because all five goals conceded came from (amateurish) individual errors. Not saying there were no tactical issues, but the likelihood that our the back 6 make all those mistakes in a single game is very low. The first goal, amazing strike by Kane, but a top keeper like Thibaut should really be getting down quicker and saving that all day long. Second and fourth were mainly due to some shocking decision making by Matic who has been incredible for the past couple of months. Third and fifth, schoolboy defending by Iva and Cahill. Yes, it looks is very bad, but fortunately, it's not something that requires a change of the whole system or something that future opposition can try to copy because it was down to individual rather than collective errors.

Think he's more suited to English football than somewhere like Netherlands or Germany.

One of the advantages of having someone like Petr Cech as back up is that you don't at all need to take any risks in situations like this.

Doubt it, with Ake around. Championship loan, most probably.

I guess that leaves second leg against Liverpool for me?

Let's call this a 2-0 loss"...

Staying with City till the end of the season is not surprising (frankly, you have to be pretty naive or in deep denial not to see that he wanted to from the start). What is surprising, is that he never even signed for NYFC. That is incredibly unethical for someone who is supposedly known for his professionalism. Technically, he does not owe us anything because he is no longer a Chelsea player. Of course he could take the route that many club legends take of moving to a different country, or ar least not to direct rival (or at the very very least not lie so blatantly and put on a huge play about it). But, nonetheless that is a choice that he has every right not to take. Equally, we have the right to change our opinion about his stature among the fans, as a result. But forget about us, Chelsea fans, for a moment, and think about the NYFC fans. He was revealed in a hugely publicised press conference as their marquee signing when in fact he had signed with a different team and was aiming from the start at not joining them at the start of their season. Now, Frank has lied and acted a lot to save his image, but THAT is a scam, pure and simple. He basically helped NYFC con hundreds of people into thousands of dollars worth of season tickets. I don't care if he's a Chelsea legend, Tottenham bench warmer, or my own father, that is an incredibly immoral and disgraceful act. As a fan of the club where he is known to be a legend and an icon and for years was the face of the club, I am genuinely ashamed.

Congratulations! The earth has just passed through an arbitrarily (and not very accurately) chosen set point on it's orbit around a really massive ball of hydrogen......Let's get drunk! :yay:

I think anything over 10m would be a good deal and another success of the loan system.

What if we've put a buy back clause in the deal?!

He talks like the Russian mob leader in a lame American action movie.

Yeah, even Gary himself said he doesn't know why he picked Schneiderline over Cesc. Jamie even said "I hope that Cesc is not watching this show, because he'd never watch again!" I reckon Sky didn't want even more Chelsea players in that team so they don't look biased.