robsblubot

he's not good enough - sell him ASAP while he's still a prospect.

Fair enough, but we are working here on the possibility, or rather likelihood that he will leave in the summer (presumably to real). Of course I speak for myself, but it would be difficult for me to think of him as a Chelsea legend if he plays 4-5 years at real or another big club. It just dilutes his status for me. btw, I think the whole key player thing is a logical fallacy. Clubs can afford a certain number of key players and pay really well for them. Whether they can attract them or not is a diff story, but Liverpool proved that it is possible to replace them even if relying on luck sometimes. the fallacy that fans do, is to always compare the key player, on super high wages, to regular players on regular wages. The logic shouldn’t be, "had he not been here," but rather, "had another key player, on similar wages, been here instead..." interesting summer...

Ironically, Tite used to love him. When Chelsea played Corinthians at the WCC, Tite (coaching Corinthians) spoke numerous time how concerned he was about David Luiz in midfield, and how dominant he was in the prior game. Then, of course the great Benitez moved DL back into defense, against Corinthians. We played like shit and lost with Torres missing his usual sitter. Not now obviously, but when he was younger (25-26) he should IMO have moved to midfield permanently. Training schedule, even some additional stamina focus training, which would make him a much better player. His weaknesses are far less important and his strengths far more important in midfield than defense.

It goes both ways as discussed in other threads: fans need (a least some) talent and definitely commitment. eden has plenty of the former, but does not show enough of the latter, which affects how the fans see him. (e. g. stop talking about fucking RM and zidane)

Kante chose us over Utd when we weren't even in Europe. Not everyone is only worried about their pay packet Fair enough... there are always different reasons and different goals, but is Kante the rule or the exception?

We would be relegated the same season. Sorry but that’s just not how professional football works. It’s a very competitive wage market and the best players earn the biggest wages. The top clubs not only pay higher wages but also can afford to pay high wages to more players, which also attracts footballers. if we could and start pay 400-500k to multiple players, you’d see players talk about moving to chelsea as a career goal. We can’t and they don’t. the vast majority of players Do Not care about the clubs. What clubs can, and should do, though is to try limit players exposure to the media esp when talking about other clubs. Imo players should be cautioned when they disrespect their current employer in the media, which they do when make these comments to the public.

Excellent! Hopefully this run lasts until summer so we can sell him for a decent amount and then buy a better player.

Personally I feel like that about players who are committed not merely talented. I guess it’s a package: commitment and some level of talent. Hazard will def be remembered as a great player, but to become a legend, he would need to stick around and give his best years to the club, like terry and lamps did. no, if he leaves in the summer he’s just another player... a very talented one but def not a legend for me.

hah well he is (a headless chicken), but between two headless chickens, one with loads of technique (good short/long passing and first touch and shooting + goals) and another who can't actually play football, think it would still be a vast improvement until a proper replacement can be found. Either way the manager needs to try different things to improve the team and the system - it is literally his job.

he's also 36, so much much "long-term" left.

He's wasn't as terrible as ppl make it out to be. He's playing his normal limited game as a decent/good player, who is barely good enough for a club with the aspirations we (should) have. The team is broken at the moment which exposes the defense. Bkayoko exposes the defense in particular. However, better footballers can more easily maintain the level of performances during crisis. Limited players are, by definition, more affected by team form. Even missing Alonso, who despite his shortcomings has good technique, for the watford game contributed to that poor performance IMO. It's funny how people forget that technique and skill in handling the football is literally what this is all about.

heh move David Luiz into the midfield, which solves two problems: removes DL from defense and adds a players with an actual first touch, and good overall technique, in midfield. David Luiz is twice the player in any position, because he's just a far superior footballer. Better yet, switch to 4 midfielders so that you add DL and Fabregas can sit deep. Conte needs to wake the fuck up. Would be very nice if Baka's issues were just positional awareness, decisions, or even attitude (which are DL weaknesses). however, his main limitation is complete lack of technique and there is no fixing that. I'm sure he can improve - can't really play any worse - but he will never be remotely good enough.

yeah he looked frustrated at times, but he was still trying which is what is expected from a key player (case in point when he combined with Giroud later in the game). It's not for him to decide whether his teammates are good enough (his wages should be motivation enough until summer) - besides, they were good enough last season (w/ matic). This is indeed the worse squad in years... Some of us warned that the great/good/decent players we had in the squad, some much maligned around here, added quality which we now no longer have. On the other hand, I won't give two fucks about Hazard the moment he's no longer a chelsea player.

agreed immediately combined with Eden to create a clear cut chance, which he missed by very very little - it was a nice (difficult) finish. Looked promising... Starting XI made no sense esp without Giroud.

agree, but that's the point. We have to cut our losses whatever they may be. He's a terrible player... there is no "recovering" as he still needs to learn how to play....

Just watching the Watford game (yeah fuck me!) and thought Hazard had a poor first half. He looked lively and had an overall good game in the second half though, esp compared to his teammates, who did not show for the game. That's a proper key player performance (reacted well to adversity) despite a horror team showing.

Moses in the team is not a problem if he starts few games. Decent squad player, but just not skillful enough at this level. Alonso is twice the player and folks here don't like him... I'd say Moses is very much liked at TC

We've been had. It happens... club needs to realize it ASAP and move him quickly. The 20m+ loss is nothing compared to the millions and millions lost by sheer incompetence regarding KDB, Salah, and Lukaku.

I have to object concerning you being the greater mikel critic... agree with the rest though I’ve always thought mikel could only do the very simple... well Baka does not seem capable of doing the simple at all.

sounds and look promising, but just a word of caution: youngsters often are way ahead of their peers in physicality, which typically levels out when they reach the senior team.

Conte not having full managerial powers may or may not be a bad thing. Look at the wonders Jose did with it: do you remember KDB and Salah (not to mention Lukaku)? If they are not good enough to play in his fabled starting XI, they are sold. Now, whoever hires jose should know that.

good player and decisively a better footballer than Bats, but would anyone restart the FM season to add him?

did we sign a player?! Actually got one good player from a big club? WOW! Welcome!

Rich anything rather - being a footballer has little to do with it. He wasn't that famous either. I'm mostly against current DUI laws, because what precisely is being criminalized by DUI laws? The wrong substance in your blood while driving? (others are allowed) This is a long discussion, but even the statistics used to promote DUI laws have all causality incorrectly assessed. One thing I can guarantee is that law enforcement (as well as lawyers) all over the world, is really concerned about driverless cars. Uber already ate into DUI by a lot, driverless cars will just put an end to it. With that long caveat out of the way, in the case of Alonso, the DUI law makes perfect sense because he committed a crime. His alcohol impairment (many diff things can impair human beings enough to disrupt driving) contributed to causing a fatal accident, hence the criminalization makes sense. Of course being rich always makes you appear less "impaired" to society.... Now back to football I think TC fans have the team they deserve: a key player who does not score a lot. A striker who does not score much and an overall squad with few goal scorers. After all, the one player who keeps on scoring important goals for us is constantly criticized for having the same characteristics he always had before we signed him. And after all he just scores lots of important goals, which in football is not that important.... being a low scoring game, what's a goal anyway?

would 'yes' be the right answer? I know you are being sarcastic, but right now if we need a goal with 15min to go, and you need to pick between Salah and Hazard, I don't think that's an easy choice... from a purely stats and probabilities pov, you might want to stick with the player more likely to score. However, your lineup may already have plenty of goal scorers, so dribbling and movement might be preferable. Would be very good for that manager to have to deal with that dilemma though... only if a club could muster such a feat Honestly, Hazard is fair game... like he said himself, Messi is the best player in the last 15 years or so (after Diego). Which makes the rest fair, and as far as I am concerned, fun game (and I did see the very end of Maradona's career - fully agree with Eden about messi). Why do we keep comparing Hazard with the likes of Neymar like someone else asked? because it's fun!