manpe

Honest mistake, English is not my first language and it was the first expression that came to mind, I didn't give much thought to the wording. I'd be happy to keep both as squad players, but with our ambitions they shouldn't be automatic starters imo (Willian already isn't I know). It's clear to see what both bring to the team or we wouldn't be leaders, but there are some critical aspects in which both are lacking that limits our ceiling at a certain height, but we need to go higher if that makes sense. Hazard imho is not an issue here.

You wrote this post on the assumption that I think they don't bring anything to the team. This couldn't be further from truth, re-read my post and you will see nowhere did I state such a ridiculous thing. I don't contest any point you made, they're all true.

If he was managing us he would never proclaim us to be champions already. Mind games at work minutes after the draw.

Yes, of course. Hazard makes our team better, he's a team player, it's the quality of some of his teammates that I question mostly. Particularly the likes of Matic and Willian, those would be the first ones I'd rip into with what they are not bringing to the team. If we are talking about players not developing and staying on the same level, then Willian would be first on my list.

Not sure if that's a serious consideration? Hazard is a world class attacker, the best we got and the best we can have. If we sold him we'd replace him with someone like Shaqiri, can't imagine that being any better. I can't think of any left winger out there who is a realistic target and a better more consistent player, can you? If we sell the likes of Costa and Hazard, especially during one window, we'll slip back to mediocrity for a few years with stop-gap signings until a rare bargain with low self-esteem comes along once in a blue moon. But by then we might not have any serious pull for such players, because I can imagine top players wanting to play together with Hazard and Costa in a championship winning team, not Europa League hopefuls with Redmond and Llorente or whoever on their level we would no doubt replace them with. Have some perspective people. He doesn't put in jaw-dropping performances every game, but when he does it is out of this world and so important to us. More important than the games against tin pot clubs that we can (or should) win without him. He shouldn't even have played that game, don't know why he did... probably because of lack of options. Or Conte doesn't have confidence in the team without him, which says more about the team than Hazard. Now I'm not saying he didn't suck against Wolves, he did, but he would need to have a lot more of those stinking games to cancel out all the awesome things he has done for us.

^ Well that is random.

Yeah they're bald too. Like two drops of water.

Can we stop overreacting pls?

Terry is past it and in the twilight of his career, we all know it so there's no point criticizing him. Zouma on the other hand is one for the future and it makes more sense to follow his performances/development more closely.

Yup, Zouma is a liability in possession. And I'm wondering if it's necessary to play 3-4-3 all the time even when it clearly isn't working and players are being fitted to the formation rather than the other way around. And because we have 3 players back all the time we look very scarce in attack, it's like we're playing Barca when comparing how many bodies Wolves commit forward and how many we do. When Azpi is playing it isn't that noticeable because he pushes forward all the time, Zouma is incapable of that and Ake is too fresh to draw any conclusions yet. Hopefully we go with a back 4 in the 2nd half or if we're not gonna change the formation, then Azpi should be brought on to balance our incompetence on the ball.

It's visible that this team hasn't played together before. Very disjointed.

3-3-3 is the formation of the future.

I get your point, but when he was here, he was talking shit about others who he didn't give a fuck about. It's just heartbreaking to hear and see him talking about us in basically the same unrespectful manner as he does to others. We were led to believe we were not "just another club", but the most important one in his career and he was the most important one in our history. People get emotional with some of those outbursts.

Fair enough, some good points made there. Understand both POVs. I'm not saying Berty was shit not at all, i wish he'd stayed, but his tenure here was over the moment Mourinho walked in. I'm willing to concede that the term "breaking through" can be subjective, and actually it would be reasonable for me to state that he broke through at Chelsea but established himself in Soton. That would be more accurate perhaps and that is what i meant.

For me there is a difference between breaking through at Chelsea and breaking through in the premier league. He broke through in the league, we gave him the platform and he grabbed it, but as soon as he was deemed surplus he was replaced. If he'd broken through here he'd still be here or been a regular player for a longer period, instead he was a temporary patch during injuries and rotation basically. Claiming Bertrand to have broken through at Chelsea is quite desperate imo, more so Ake considering he doesn't even make the bench.

I think we have different understanding of breaking through.

Hazard? I saw a stat that before the gooner game he had 0 shots in past 3 games. He shot more in 2016, 2017 not so much. Or you mean Costa? I don't recall anybody slagging him off for shooting too little.

So they are preparing a renewed contract to get a higher fee, makes sense.

I turned off my ad blocker and there definitely are ads. And yes they also have some kind of subscription plans https://www.mailsubscriptions.co.uk/subscribe

They make money with ads and subscriptions, all online outlets monetize their sites this way. Media nowadays is a different animal to what they were during those times so that heroic Daily Mail is long gone. I admit I read the Mail when I'm bored and just want some quick and pointless entertainment, however it would never be my go-to place for reliable and important news.

And now DM is banned from Wikipedia Wikipedia bans Daily Mail as 'unreliable' source Rough times for them click hungry chaps.

Can you link to any such articles?

But if we signed somebody else who was a revelation banging goals in left and right? Would you still not accept that because it's not Icardi? Btw no I don't think he'll be sold. The most discussed potential replacements to Costa are Morata, Lukaku and Belotti. Haven't really heard any other (realistic) names being thrown around. I'd be satisfied with any of those because they are the best who could possibly be available not for £100m, but my first preference by far is for Diegoal to stay.

I doubt he'd have the audacity to say that, but who knows? Our main men this season are the ones who are not Mou's men - Azpi, Luiz, Cahill, Courtois, Kante, Moses, Alonso, Hazard. All signed before or after Mourinho. In fact the only Mourinho players playing regularly are Costa, Matic and Pedro. Fabregas and Willian to lesser extent, but they fulfill important roles in the team so we can semi-count them too. So this team is only a fraction of what Jose assembled or preferred and it shows.

He was bad against Arsenal, nobody is arguing against that. One game. And it's better to have a selfish striker on high confidence rather than a donkey like Torres who was lauded for his assisting but couldn't score to save his life. All the best strikers are selfish bastards, for a skillful finisher it's more positive than negative.