Gily

Luna was shit but still miles better than Bennett Villa's defense was as shocking as ever, if you saw the first 20m against Arsenal you were confident the result would end up at 6-0 but Arsenal choked and Villa countered effectively. I'm expecting a big win just like last year. 8-0 !

I'll give you that but he was also on that level when they were playing the Europa League against the likes of Zenit, Athletic Bilbao & Ajax for a better comparison. He is dominating THAT role but you could say the same about Carroll ( shudder ), I just want to see him develop his overall game not only his strengths. I disagree on his first touch though, don't know if you saw today's match but his touch was very heavy. Only 19 is what he's got going for him right now but it will all depend on what happens next season.

12 goals in open play in 1880 minutes, yea it's not bad but it isn't the goals that you should be worried about, it's his other abilities that haven't improved. Everyone knew he could score a goal. Yea I watched 50 mins today because they were playing City, I lost interest in WBA's matches after december but before that I watched nearly all of them and I'm comparing him to those matches + the few he played the seasons before + the 2 seasons before that at Anderlecht. I honestly think he was more of a threat back at 16-17 than he is now. I'm just saying he's always had it in him what he showed this season but his bad points haven't improved over the years.

Started watching at the 30 minute mark, 50m further on and he's made Anichebe look like a worldbeater. ( because he's playing the same type of football currently ) Some horrible passing and first touches as expected, he has learned/improved NOTHING from his stay at WBA. Still cracks me up how he's being rated on this forum like the next Messiah after some motd highlights, another year at WBA is another year wasted.

Lavezzi might have been poking his fingers in his ribcage, trust me I used to know all the tricks in the book

Still a big difference in fine money and crazy money, I remember reading Neymar was earning 500k+ a week with everything combined, wage, bonuses, sponsorships, etc So with the 2014 WC coming up there really is no reason to move to Europe when you're living as a God in Brazil.

It isn't that easy, if Lukaku stays in England next season he'll become a homegrown player.

It's obvious you haven't seen Bennett play then, time and time again I'm amazed how teams don't manage to defeat such a WEAK Villa, they really have some beyond poor players.

I prefer to be called realist Odds were actually pretty good 4/1, for bottlers in a hard group that's a sure bet for me. They're doing "well" so far but I'm pretty sure they won't get more than 3 points out of the 2 matches against Macedonia or they have to do something radical like ... playing with 2 strikers, imagine that

I've got a 1000 € bet running on Belgium not qualifying for Brazil, so yea I predict they'll bottle it again. It was at the draw that I put 750 € into that bet, everyone in Belgium was saying they had a lucky draw and had one of the easiest groups in years. I knew better. Croatia and Serbia are not a laughing matter, sure they're not Germany or Spain but they're just as good as Belgium or even better. Most importantly were the "minnows" we drew : Macedonia, Scotland, Wales. They were neglected as if they were San Marino, Liechtenstein or Faroe Islands. The extra 250 € for the bet was settled when they appointed Wilmots as manager, he's almost a carbon copy of his predecessor who managed to fuck up an extremely easy group for EC2012. He's a motivator just like him, not a tactician which Belgium so sorely need.

Not really, he opens up the play a lot and is always chasing down the ball to put pressure on the defence. He might not be scoring but he's very valuable, Anichebe is in good form yet Jelavic is starting that says it all.

Lots of bandwagoning going on in the last pages, it's obvious who hasn't seen the past WBA matches. Today he only played 20 minutes, more than half of them against a demoralized Liverpool with a retiring 35-year-old defender in their back 2 ( can't call it back 4 with the performance of Johnson & José Enrique today ). Yes he can already be a great striker for Chelsea but no because he won't win you anything. He's not ready yet and will definitely need another loan, preferably to another team with a bit more quality who don't resort to counterattacking from the start.

This is something which I see a lot, people calling Mirallas a great talent/having great potential. He WAS a great talent back at 19-20 when people were calling him the Ronaldo of the lowlands but he never lived up to his potential, the guy is 25! Dries Mertens is a great player but not a worldclass player, he wouldn't cut it at a top4 side, anything below and he would be brilliant for them. Ideally he'd go to Everton to replace Pienaar but they have a tight budget and I reckon Mertens would cost close to 10m £.

I don't rate him at all, he wouldn't even cut it for me at Norwich let alone Chelsea, it's a joke people are suggesting this.

There's a big problem with that. All 3 of them could fit well with Mikel because he'll never go off for a run forward, their defensive work would be minimal which would be optimal for those 3. You could let Fellaini play that role but then I don't see any difference with Mikel, to get the most out of him you need him to make runs into the box which requires a smart player next to him with a good defensive workrate/awareness which neither of those 3 have.

His stats were similar when he was playing as a DM, he's not creative, he's not a good passer, he's a destroyer type who is out to win the ball and then lay it off asap. I actually think that he's gotten worse this year but everyone is so focused on his scoring that they neglect to see how his general play is suffering. Playing alongside Mikel is impossible unless you're going to play against Barcelona, his pass percentage wouldn't leap 10 points with someone creative next to him though because it's THAT bad, even shocking currently. I do believe he brings more to the table than Mikel but you need the right player next to him to bring that out, the right player Chelsea currently do not have.

Which isn't exactly a bad thing with Ba coming in. Everyone was raving about his center position in his last games he played with Genk but everyone seems to forget that was during the weakest period Belgian football has seen, it's no wonder he was shining. Before playing in the center he was an excellent winger, not speedy but with a lot of trickery and pinpoint crosses. He's extremely direct towards goal unlike Hazard, something totally different.

Defensively Moses has been brilliant so far, currently motm for me.

Shame they trained all of that away, he used to be a truck at 100kg, now he's merely a minivan

Neither would MU, you need a deep lying playmaker next to him which MU & Chelsea don't have, he just doesn't fit in like people have said before. He's a great player but you need the right players to support him, his best choice in the EPL would be Arsenal next to Arteta who covers a lot defensively when going forward but I don't see him going to Arsenal because they don't splash money and at the moment you can almost say it's a stepdown, I think he's going abroad after this season if Everton don't finish 4th.

You're looking through rose-tinted glasses, he's still the same guy that joined Chelsea from Anderlecht and hasn't improved any of his aspects. I don't believe WBA was the best option for a loan, they're playing into his strengths which you can't blame them but he isn't learning from that. The good things you've seen from him aren't new, he was already doing that at the age of 16 at Anderlecht ( pace, strength, headers, bicyle-kicks ) . Now the bad things that you might have missed : - On setpieces he still takes wrong positions and imitates a pillar, he's got no movement whatsoever. - He still can't control a ball in his feet - He's still shooting rather than laying off the ball in horrible positions ( at the corner of the box ) - He's still only attempting shots with his left foot, he's even more predictable than Robben which says a lot - Pointing to his feet like a caveman whenever a ball isn't played to him, no matter if there was 3 or 4 players in front of him, not realising it's his own damn fault because he didn't pick a good position - Not chasing the ball, giving the defenders room to pick a pass Being so predictable is the worst thing about him. Most defenders haven't played against him and that's why he can easily get past them now, but they'll slowly get the hang of defending against him. 1. Don't give him room, cover his right side ( he's playing with the back to you ) 2. Don't panic when he starts doing scissors, stay calm and close in on him 3. ALWAYS, block off his left foot he won't attempt to shoot with his right 4. ??? 5. Profit It's a shame but it's as simple as that.

Been saying this a long time, they should stop the clock when someone is fouled or the ball goes out of bounds. No more argueing over unfair extra time, and a lot less players faking injuries, I don't see any downsides for this except an investment in timers like in basketball but if you only use these rules in the topleagues/cups then it's not even a small dent in their budget.

So-so first half : - lost pretty much every header - wasted an excellent 1on1 chance because of a heavy first touch. + hold up the ball well when played in his feet + good in buildup play Baggies are playing a shocking match though, passing has been abysmal, they are in dire need of a decent playmaker. 2nd half : Improved his performance with a couple of good runs and scored a goal, was lucky to score with a shot in the dead centre of the goal. Subbed off at 77'

Not sure who's worse, the ref or the FOX commentators.

Igor De Camargo is the best option if they'd play in a 2 striker system, he could be an extremely important player for Belgium. Not because he's such a good striker but because he can head the ball well & the most important thing ... if you've got him on your team you're guaranteed of atleast 5 freekicks in front of the goal, he's a magnet for fouls and pisses off defences. This is a valid option with all the good freekick takers we have and the height in our team. De Ceulaer would have been a great option as well, people dismiss him because he plays for a small team but he's a striker in good form so he should start. Hazard played his match, non-existent in the first half, some quality moves in the 2nd but nothing decisive. He shouldn't be played on the rightside in this system, neither should Mertens play on the leftside.