CHOULO19

Hahahaha Why do you reply to my post and then quickly try to change the subject?! 1- If it's irrelevant and you don't care, why did you pull out that crap stat in the first place if your point isn't to prove that he's good aerially? 2- Can you please provide me with a link to that source you used that provides only the total number of won duels (10 as you claim) but not the overall attempted duels? That seems a very weird manner in which to provide the stat. Unless you're saying that you yourself have counted his won duels alone!

10 out of how many?

At the start of the season he was a starter for them while Solanke and Baker were on the bench. I watched a couple of his matches, and he was just awful. Looked like a fish out of water. Not sure how he can get back into the side..

I said it before his injury and I'll say it again: He was being scapegoated by everyone because it is much easier to pin all the blame on one player rather than think about all the factors and issues. And that's not defend him or his performances. But he just has't been as bad as people have made him out to be (or at least not as worse than the past couple of seasons...)

His inability to win even a single aerial duel really gets on my nerves sometimes!

@Robguima, I really like you as a poster on here, but mate, you're honestly starting to drift into PhillDriver territory with this Mikel obsession of yours!

Fabregas was onside. It's not debatable, he was on:

I prefer whips, tbh...

Chelsea matches this season feel like I'm being physically assaulted and I just want the whole thing to just stop!

Thanks. I really needed to read a calming level-headed post like that.

Stupid, stupid tackle when he's already booked, though it was harsh to actually send him off for that. Ref got influenced by players and crowd.

We're getting the exact opposite of that, aren't we? Sigh....

I just love when people try to rewrite history during tough times

Of course he would. But he'd also be firmly on every big team's bench with his current form and level of fitness.

The way he's been playing this season, he'd be lucky to be playing in 'sunny' Sunderland!

He was great. Definitely the best player in a well organized Gladbach defense. They needed a bit of luck not concede on a couple of occasions but otherwise did very well against a Juve attack full of in-form players. I was very wrong in the past about youth players like Piazon and McEachran, but I'm very happy that RLC and Christensen seem on their way to prove that I was right to say that they two are the most promising talents we have.

That's simply not true. Mata got a lot of chances and playing time, at the expense of more deserving players like KDB, one can argue. In the four months under Jose he played in 17 matches. The only good performances he had were against Arsenal in the league cup and the second half vs Spurs when he came off the bench. And it wasn't JUST about his defensive work, either. He kept getting dispossessed and pushed over every time he got the ball on the right wing in most of the other matches. He struggled really badly with having to receive the ball with his back to a defender.

We're going to need a bit of luck here...particularly in attack.

Decent first half. Did his best Casper impression in the second. Still clearly lacking confidence and sharpness, although looking physically more fit than at the start of the season.

Brilliant!

Failing to win that match is simply unjustifiable. Ridiculous chance wasting and lack of confidence in the final third is painful to watch. Very clear in the last 15 mins that the players have in the back of their minds that a draw is enough. That said the performance was decent and the result not bad. The obvious huge positive is Matic's performance (and Jose actually subbing Cesc off!!)

Should have been 2 or 3 up in the opening 25 mins. Can't understand how we are not in front at the break. Hopefully we don't pay for the missed chances in the second half. Seriously?!

But what if the club catches wind of your position on the match and just cancel the whole thing?!

Again, he didn't single him out, he was asked about him. Seriously, just watch what he actually said. There is no remotely unbiased interpretation of that which suggests that he was singling him out. What he said is that the team as a whole is defending badly and conceding a lot of goals. So, to try to give the central midfielders an easier job so they are less likely to make mistakes and leave spaces in the middle, he decided to play Pedro who is obviously more solid defensively. I honestly can't see what the objection to that possibly is. I think every manager in the world would tell you that in times of crisis, first make sure you don't concede and stay solid defensively. That is always the basis to build on. It's also very clear from what he said that in normal situations where the team is performing normally he would not drop Hazard. Also no, he could not have played Hazard on the right. That is because we were playing Cesc in a more advanced role. However when we switch to defense, Fabregas does not have the pace to press along side the striker in our 4-4-2 shape which means that the right winger, in this case Willian, has to join Costa in pressing while Ramires covers the right wing and Fabregas steps back into central midfield. Hazard can't do that job.

How? You just said that there is no debate that Hazard deserves to be benched for one game. How is saying that since Hazard is not offering much in attack it is better to play someone who gives more in defense justifies a negative reaction. If anything, the quotes in context were more a critique of Baba's defensive abilities than Hazard's.