BlueLyon

In scoring own goals I can completely agree

With Balotelli scoring after 80 missed shots before and Gerrard's winning penalty.

Yeah but Oscar isnt even close to what #10 is. He scored and assisted yesterday, but I think those goals will come every once in a while, but he does so many work in midfield that even if he doesnt get on scoresheet, he can still be MOTM. He tackles, closes down opponent, makes runs, starts attacks, stays at back when Cesc goes up, even covers Iva etc. Sure if Oscar scores every game, he will be visible, but I think he will score in every 5th PL game or sth. What I though is that Hazard (who doesnt realy score much recently) is always that super guy, the best player in team, star etc, but Oscar will be somebody who people will not realy notice or will only think of him when he scores. I can say pretty much for every non-chelsea fan (and even some chelsea fans) that they dont rate Oscar and dont understand his importance to the team, apart from the games where he scores. But he is very important in midfield despite not scoring and he will be kinda invisible and unimportant to most football fans, but some of us will know that he is the man in our midfield. Everyone will jump on Cesc, Hazard or Costa due to their stats when/if we win title, but I think Oscar work is equaly important to those goals and assists.

I know Maribor very well, this team can put either a very organised performance, or a very clumsy one. We played in europe for few years in row now, europa league before and now CL. The players are super pumped up for these european games and by no mean, chelsea should underestimate maribor. In europe, we are very organised, probably we will play defensive this game, like most times (in europe), but our attack can be very efficient. We can score from nowhere, one chance and thats it. If Chelsea will let too much space for us, it could turn that we will get a lot of confidence and we can be very dangerous then (for example, the last 15min in first half against Schalke). Even I didnt know and expect that we could attack this fast and we could easily score two more in those 15min. However if oppponent puts too much pressure on our team, we can become quite nervous and fuck up in defence easily. But I expect tight game, with Chelsea winning. Hope for a draw though, as both teams, I like very much. Cant wait for the match :blue scalf:

If we win title and Oscar keeps playing like that and improving, I can see him become our invisible, but key part for success. I remember how Maka was invisible, but he was the motor of the team in many ways. I think Oscar could become similar in importance to this team. Obviously we are a team of eleven players with everyone having important role, but Oscar work is unique as he does big share in defence and attack, while also being that middle man who is almost never seen, but still key for the transportation of the ball, opening space, starting attack etc. He will never be big stat guy, but his tactical understanding is amazing. If his body will allow him to play regular week in week out, I can see him the key part to this Mourinho team.

Heard of him, people talk like he is the next big thing from brazil, but I never saw him, so cant make any judgement. But still, I would prefer us to give chance to RLC, Baker etc. before going for another young CM. Or Tielemans if our board wants to buy another talented CM...

Considering Pool luck, they will pull out a draw and nobody will understand how...

I only fear Di Maria. He could cause us some serious problems...even if we outplay them, Di Maria could still give a winner for them, he is very direct and efficient, fast. Our defence usualy has many problems with such players.

I would prefer some french club where we could loan players to competitive league, but besiktas is not bad at all.. I jusz dont see players being very happy if loaned out to turkey...

Haha I see, thought you somehow forgot him While they might be better, there is no way he would be left out. If there is one player that wouldnt be dropped and even if he was complete shit, it would be Rooney.

Completely agree btw you forgot to include Rooney tha captain.

I can see Mou to be very intersted in him mostly because he can work on both ends of pitch very well. And if he wont cost outrageous money, I think Mou will put him on top priority list.

If there were players in team just because they are british, it wouldnt be fair, but if they were simply better, than I dont see problem. Is it unfair that average players like Richards, Cleverly etc dont make the cut in english nt? No, they are not good enough and they dont get picked. If certain northern ireland, wales or scottish players arent good enough to be picked, that is football, not unfair. However if manager is biased and picks players on nationality, then thats a problem indeed. But like you said, it will never happen.

If jones becomes england new captain, they have fallen realy low.

We had two words before; fly emirates, samsung mobile,...its possible that turkish airlines will have slightly smaller font, wouldnt look too bad. And i can bet we wont have that bird logo. Gala has same sponsor on front side and they dont have logo, only letters. We would have the same.

I see no real problem with that sponsor; it will take time to sink in, but we'll get used to it. What true problem should be is that for a big club as we are, we cant find good offer. 25m as rumoured is a piss compared to other big teams. Instead of complaining about how that or this name will look on shirt, topic should point at fact that we cant find sponsor who would pay us the money that we realy deserve for such a big/popular club. Maybe the number will be completely different in the end; but as of now the rumoured 25 is terrible. Should be at least 35.

As I know we are comparing these two teams in october 2014. By now, that team has won two titles in row, while it also become known as one of toughest teams to play against. Current team has yet to show anything realy, but there is bigger potential than 2004/05 one. However potential means shit, you need to achieve records, trophies and media/fans/opponents recognition to become big. 2004/05 side achieved it all, current one is yet to do it.

Man just say Thiago was better suited player for Barca but Cesc is better player overall. Atm there is no way Thiago ever did anything to be better than Cesc... And if you take for example who suited barca more, that aint reliable. In that case Carvajal is better fb than Azpi because he will most probably play ahead of him for spain, but that doesnt mean he is actualy better defender. He just suits that team better. You appear to mix two things; who is better for certain team and who is better player in general. Cesc is better in general, but Thiago suits spain and barca (tiki taka system) more. Thats all. There is nothing in Thiagos career that would make him better player than Cesc. Afterall he cant even finish season injury-free and that is big problem already. I rate Thiago highly, he has big potential, but as of october 2014, he simply isnt and wasnt ever better player than Cesc.

Well, he scored and thats certainly boost for him. Can see a brilliant game from him against palace.

I dont think bale is better than Reus...

Namewise its better, but as a team, not yet. After all that generation managed some impressive defensive records and we had truly a killer counter attack. This generation has potential, bigger names, but is yet to win anything big.

If you ask me, I still feel more comfortable when Cech is in goal. Our defence looks more composed and organised. I guess thats just because he was here all these years and having Tibo in goal now needs some time to sink in.

While you argue who is better, Arda wouldnt be a bad option either. To me Reus is class, but maybe he realy wont fit at RW as he would on left or middle.

He was also buli player of the year that season.

You do realize valuability of club os something different than popularity right? Clubs worth doesnt tell you how many fans they have... Though I would say ManU and Arsenal have more fans globaly, but Chelsea will beat arsenal in few years, because we are attracting more fans atm. From all clubs, Real, Barca and maybe Bayern are also probably more popular, that gives us 6th spot in most popular clubs. But than again, I have no clue where you found pool to be more popular than us and that we are on same level as spurs. Bullshit!