robsblubot

Great performance against city today! a year ago his calmness was an asset, now it's because he doesn't care...

Did well for a young player, but it doesn't look it's the right position for him. at this time it would be quite difficult to fit him in a system. He's just too lax for the cm role... Well I guess same as mikel... Anyways, and he does not have enough in the final third. His shooting is all over the place - far from this level.

yeah for me Mikel is doing a job that is not in need of doing... that's why you don't see other mikels in any remotely big clubs out there; yes, we are the only "big" club starting a "limited" player (term used by his fans to describe him) I'd call him something entirely different though. Another way of looking is how many players could do Mikel's job, and provide something extra (aka not being as limited)? I could name a few who play for small sides in England. personally I think Cahill is limited, while Mikel is a bit below that. Sorry I just don't buy Hiddink the savior story. It's fictional at best. What did he do really? Play Mikel?! Jose started Mikel against Everton and Porto because he was also fed up with Matic. The squad was just completely unfit then and would have lost to anyone, as they did. The squad is fitter now and play just as shitty football, but at least they can run.

No I don't - he had his chance at Chelsea and he blew it. Oscar leaving solves only one of the 7+ problems the squad has - not if you follow this thread though.

Still second tier though. i didn't say coutinho I isn't better - actually between the two only coutinho is or has improved. my prob with this thread is the focus on Oscar and some folks ignore the other mediocres. either valuations matter or they don't. If they don't, then why do we expect more from Oscar ? Because he is #10 even if he isn't ? my point remains Oscar has been just mediocre as a number of the other players. If some here have high expectations towards him that's hardly Oscars problem.

The love that some here show for counting is really touching. he's difiniy improving, but still vanishes in tough matches... Never delivers for Brazil for the same reason.

Can only sell the players who can be sold. oscar used to be easier to sell, but getting increasingly more difficult. others don't have any market value, so they stay.

They are better in pretty much every position... Just in one position, in center midfield, we are not much worse. Yes I still think Mikel is awful, but Fernandinho is very close... I mean he can actually play football: you know score goals, long balls, switch play, the stuff real players usually do. However, I was wrong about him; Fernandinho has as little composure as David Luiz: terrible positioning, awareness, and attitude. So, in his own way, Fernandinho also stands out. Man City have been pretty average to be honest, but average will mostly like do against us.

Ironically, I think Mata and Oscar are very similar players: not in characteristics mind you, but in that they are both equally ineffective. Oscar has one thing going for him, which is youth. He may change teams, countries, and leave the slump he's in - yes, he has played better! After admitting that Oscar has been crap for a very long time, I cannot, for the life of me, understand how people come here to write Oscar is mediocre when half of the squad is equally mediocre. As bad as Oscar has been, he is still sought after, which is more than some of our players can say - they will be moving to china soon because that's their only market.

that'd once again point to a failure in the management at chelsea, who should've identified a problem before it actually became a problem. It sounds like a hindsight kinda thing, but that's why they make good money and should indeed see the shortcomings of certain players early on and act accordingly. If Hazard had his one fantastic season for us, then the staff should have realized and sold him at max value. There is only one way about it: either they are right and that was not Hazard's only great season, or he will never reach this valuation again. Personally, although I hope Hazard has more to offer, I have little faith in the staff and think there is just too much bias there. We tend to ride the waves a bit too long, which doesn't quite work in the transfer market where you have to be proactive: sell players when they are playing at their best (like stocks). Again, it's counter intuitive, but if it was easy anyone could do it. Plus there have been chronic problems in center midfield for quite a while, over multiple managers, which does not bode well for the staff. Either they are clueless, don't have a say, or both.

RLC as a #10 really ?! Wow!? After all that moan about how Oscar is a nothing player and now we have the least creative youngster we've got as a #10? Btw I know Oscar is not a 10-given up trying to convince people that the number in his back is actually 8 and that the sky is usually blue.

If you are matic, who was one of our best players in our title winning season, and then you have a bad season. A tampon manager comes along and plays mikel fucking obi ahead of you, and the club is ok with it...then just pack your things and go. dont be like the guy who now plays in your position, who now only at 28 has magically acquired the talent to start for Chelsea. leave while you can! Money isn't everything... The best players will go in this window and you should too. We don't like talent, only composure. You can do the most absurd things as long as you do them confidently - works for mr trump... thanks for everything.

Sure, but supporters tend to talk about games only and not consider that players also need motivation in practice, sometimes even more so. So they can stay fit and deliver on game day. mu original point is that torres looks fitter, slimmer than when he was with us. It might be just motivation, being home and all, but remembering the very round form of our players beginning of the season, perhaps our fitness preparation isn't or hasn't been that great ?

Didn't think he did anything wrong in the KdB goal - he does not look composed in his defending so he stands out even when not doing anything wrong. It was a counter with city attacking with many players - only so much defenders can do. my prob with him as a defender isn't with the mistakes, but rather with the mistakes he doesn't even make by being completely out of position...

Heh this goes back to my arg against mikel... Maka was obviously different from mikel, but their roles were similarly limited. Their range of passing in particular was very similar. Maka defended 10x better though. yaya is more similar to essien, but not as complete as essien was. It's difficult to find something essien was poor at-perhaps aerial duels? i just don't see the top teams employing limited players anymore - a pure defensive dm as maka was. plenty of rounded essiens though.

Motivation during practice can do wonders...

Excellent that's essentially saying fuck off!

his brain fart moment aside (kinda soft must say) he looks a lot fitter than when with us. After this fucking season I have to question our fitness coaches and their methods... it's like every player runs more and does more elsewhere.

Fuck yeah! Although maka was indeed a beast back then, not sure he'd have a place in the modern game. Essien, however, is the very epitome of the modern game - prob my fav Chelsea player before his sad injuries...

Only if the deal would include a time machine.

schneiderlin's long ball to mata was real smething... Good CMs must be able to do that. I'm hopeful that most rumors so far mention CM targets.

Yeah two tough matches, west ham and United, and two easy ones. Completely doable. yes arsenal has easier opponents, but they are running against two teams ahead, which makes their task pretty difficult.

Different conditions... different time. You just cannot establish a strong correlation with so many variables. Let me just strongly disagree that this was an impressive result. For me beating City one nil would hav been 10x as impressive as beating Vila by any margin. And yes, I believe if we played City 10 times with this crop of players we'd lose 9. perhaps it was a particular bad game for them., who knows? I thought Vila did not press our midfield at all... they looked scattered on the pitch.

Pedro has a poor first touch. It did not bother him too much today because Vila is championship level, but against tight marking Pedro will always struggle. not good enough to start.

No, we should indeed care that Vila is a horrible side, otherwise we don't have to buy anyone for next season. yes we did our duty, but don't take too much out of it. You can actually analyse the players' performances taking into account how much space they had; but even then it is tricky, because some players react differently to tighter marking and that's what we care the most about at this level. Good to see some of the youngsters get a game though, but this was too easy even for Pato.