Belgiannutt

via Imgflip Meme Maker Wouldn't be suprised if that's actually on the board before the game.

I'm actually happy he did that. For me he realized the rest of the team wasn't going to be much help so he took it upon himself to force the issue. The seasons before the main criticism for Hazard was always that he was too passive at times. So i see this as big progress in his match mentality. Ofcourse this has the side effect of sometimes losing the ball when his teammates were open but with the way his teammates are playing i'm like "carry on Eden".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YujJbAfcsU

Have they worked this season ? While we are top of the league it's kinda worrying how many times this season we've struggled keeping a 1 goal lead. Looking back the main problem seems to be that when we go up a goal we stop playing and just sit deep. We invite pressure and simply can't handle it. Reason for this, imo, is that our defence can't be solid on it's own and needs help from our entire team to be solid defensively. Problem is that our opponent usually responds in kind by pushing more players higher up the pitch, basically negating our extra defensive support by offering extra offensive support to their own attackers. Normally that would lead to dangerous counters but our counter attacks this season have been non existant, apart from a few occasions. Personally i feel this is because our wingers are too deep when defending. When we recover the ball we only have one real outlet to pass to, Costa and he isn't great at holding onto the ball. This leaves our wingers getting the ball deep in their own half, trying to manoever their way past their marker while trying to outrun the players getting back into their defensive position. Usually the opposition delays our wingers long enough for other players to return and if they do happen to get past them then they just foul our wingers. Also because they foul us so deep in our own half they usually end up getting away with it without a booking because the counter simply didn't develop enough. In my head i kinda came up with a lineup that could make us stronger defensively while adding a new dimension to our counters. To be clear not saying that this is what we absolutely should do just trying to offer an example to what i mean with changing our approach. A 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 depending how you look at it. Costa Hazard Willian Matic Fabregas Ramires/Cuadrado Azpi/Luis Terry Zouma/Cahill Ivanovic/Azpi Courtois Basically a rip off of Atletico's system (although the roles for the front 2 would be a bit different). Defensively, 2 lines of 4 that stay compact and suffocate anything that comes in the zone we're trying to defend. Hazard would have to press the deepest midfield player so that he doesn't get too much time to pick his passes.( he could at times switch with Costa to relief the burden a bit) Hazard wouldn't have to track that midfielder all the way back though, when the deepest midfielder joins the attack and moves into the area our first line is defending Hazard should just stay high and remain as an outlet. If all three of the opponents midfielders are in the area we're defending then that would mean one of the opponents fullbacks would have to move back and tuck inside to defend on Hazard. Otherwise they'd effectively be playing 2 on 2 with only their CB's left to defend against Hazard and Costa. I can't see many teams playing 2 on 2 against Hazard and Costa not unless they're absolutely desperate to score. In attack. Hazard woud be our short range outlet. He'd be a good resting point for our team as he's the second best player in our team (behind Drogba) at playing with his back towards goal and holding up the ball. His ability to beat players also adds more of a fear factor and would make teams even more afraid of playing man to man. Costa would be our long range outlet. With Hazard being there to take care of the hold up play it would free Costa up a bit and would allow him to focus more on doing what he's good at, his off the ball movement. Dragging his marker wide or running in behind defenders. Willian and Ramirer/Cuadrado would be the runners and support the counter while Matic and Fabregas would hold their position and not join the counter. Sorry for the long post.

You performed better over the 2 legs no doubt about that but we are the better team. We have better players but we've been going through a slump since new year. We've played 15 games this year and have only played well in 2 games. Most of the other games we did just enough to win them but that's about it. If we played the way we did in the beginning of the season we would have beaten you and gone through to the next round. atm we just have too many players that are off form. Costa is one of the players that is off form. Like chelsea legend said he's a proven goalscorer in the spanish league and in the PL. He IS a worldclass striker (poacher) but he's just off form. Hazard just a regular player ? Don't be ridiculous. Your club has been after him since forever and he's repeatedly turned you guys down. Sounds to me like you're just bitter that he slammed the door in your faces once and for all by saying he'll never play for another French team besides Lille. Seems like you guys finally took the hint(s) after Hazard stated for the 1000th time that he didn't want to go to your team. About the first leg, thought the first half was quite even between the 2 teams. Second half you did dominate us but while you did have a number of good chances i didn't think Courtois had to make any real WC saves. The saves he made were saves that i expect a goalkeeper at this level to make. About the second leg, though we were slightly better in the opening 30 minutes. We made life difficult for you with our pressing and Hazard had some real joy down that right-hand side of yours. We both had our dangerous moments but we also both lacked the final pass to score. After the red card we stopped pressing and allowed you to get into the game. As the game continued you guys got better and better and in that second half you played better with 10 men then we did with 11 and in the end both teams got what they deserved based on both legs. Golden age might be over but the PL is still one of the best leagues in the world. It's still the most competitive and most physical league out there for me.

He hasn't been at his best this season but under Mourinho he was great. He 's 21 years old so ofcourse he's not worldclass yet but he definitely has the potential to be and he's already a great defender. Also how many worldclass defenders are there atm ? Not a lot i'd say. Most of them are either nearing 30 or are simply impossible to get. For me he's the best option to replace Terry in the long run.

Should be our number 1 transfer target in the summer. Worldclass defenders are a rare commodity these days. Varane at 21 is already a great defender and has the potential to be worldclass. With next season likely being Terry's last season it would be stupid not to go after Varane.

Willian is a weird one for me. He has great technical ability outside the final third but the moment he gets into the final third he turns into Ramires in terms of technical ability and decision making. Very weird. Was actually going to put Costa aswell. His first touch seems to be very hit and miss with lately it being more miss then hit. Cahill's basic technique is fine for a cb but his ability to play out from the back is not. He's absolutely horrendous at it imo. He waits and waits then when he gets pressed he panics and knocks it long into no man's land. Inconsistent technique and inability to play out from the back under pressure are things that i consider to be poor technical ability. I suppose i'm a bit too loose with the term "technical ability". Yeah i'd agree with the names you said. Luis, Hazard, Matic and Azpi on the right are the only players that possess the technical ability, mobility and intelligence to effectively handle getting pressed. Wish we'd go after Varane and Pogba in the summer. (or players of the same ilk) and Mourinho stopped using Ivanovic over Luis. We'd have such a great team. Costa Hazard Willian Pogba Fabregas Matic Luis Azpi Terry/Zouma Varane Courtois :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

True but that's down to our squad being riddled by players that have poor technical ability and Mourinho is responsible for playing/ buying them/not replacing them. Based on technical ability Oscar, Ramires, Ivanovic, Cahill and Willian shouldn't be starters for us. That's 5 players that are regulars for us yet lack the proper technical ability to play at the top level. It's totally unacceptable at this level that players consistently fuck up chances or cheaply give away possession because they can't properly control a football or panic when put under pressure or always make the wrong decision in the final third.

Agree with everything. That would be a magnificent squad.

Sacking Mourinho is ridiculous but he really does need to rethink his tactical approach for next season. If he wants to sit deep and counter then fine but make it work so that we don't concede chances and are actually capable of effectively countering. It just isn't working this season. We've got 10 behind the ball yet we're still conceding big chances and our counters have been very poor this season.

In that "5 %" he still managed to create more then all our other attackers combined.

We stopped pressing before that. Doesn't really matter though my point was that we stopped pressing when Oscar was still on the pitch. With or without Oscar we wouldn't have pressed the second half. Yeah he got it very wrong.

We stopped pressing after 20 minutes. With or without Oscar, it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game. Mourinho got his tactics wrong. We sat deep while we should have pressed.

:lol:

True but even if he was bought for 50 million i don't think RM fans would be happy with him. 12 goals in 28 games for a player that mostly relies on his goalscoring ability isn't good enough. He also isn't really a refined football player. His technical ability isn't up there with the best. That's also something that RM fans don't like about Bale. Isco, for example, is a fan favorite while he only has 3 goals and 8 assists in 24 games but his technical ability is up there with the best and he's also more of a creator and he works harder for the team then Bale does.

While i agree with you, in general, that numbers aren't everything in Bale's case numbers are everything. Because he simply doesn't have much else to offer besides his goalscoring ability. He's a goalscorer. Goalscorers get judged by how many goals they score. He's got 12 in 28 games. Well RM fans are fickle no doubt about it. Problem is that Bale was bought for a 100 million euros and he simply isn't a 100 million player. Not even close to that amount. You said he did "alright" but "alright" isn't good enough for a RM player that cost a 100 million euros. RM aren't after stability. They just buy potential superstars for big money give them 1 maybe 2 years, if they're lucky, to prove themselves and if they don't match the expectations they sell them for half the price and buy the next potential superstar.

I actually understand RM fans about Bale. Bale was bought for 100 million euros and in his second season there his numbers are 12 goals 6 assists in 28 games. Solid numbers but you expect more from a 100 million player. Then there's also the problem that he's not creative nor flashy (flair, skillful). His entire game revolves around his goalscoring ability and so far he only has 12 goals.

I didn't say it was a fact. I said it would be pointless to debate it further because it's always going to come back to the same thing. I'm gonna say Oscar 's been poor, Pacquaio gonna say he was good. We could throw arguments at each other but neither one of us is gonna change their mind. Goals and assists don't equal good performance. For example the Newcastle game where he scored a goal and got an assist he was awful performance wise. Also his 3 goals and 2 assists this year have come in three games. Tottenham : assist that wasn't really an assist but a shot at goal and his performance was poor. Newcastle : goal and assist but poor performance, Swansea : 2 goals this was a good 90 minute performance. 3 games he scored or assisted in and 2 of those he was poor, performance wise. The other 7 games he wasn't good either. He was good in the first half against West Ham but he was again invisible in the second half.

His performances haven't been good. If you can't see that then any further debating with you is just pointless.

Problem is that he's only in top form for half of the season then his performances take a nosedive. He's young but he's not THAT young anymore.He's not 18 or 19, he's 23 and turns 24 in september. I expected more from Oscar this season. He's not a key player for me. Fabregas is a key player. Hazard is a key player. Matic is a key player. Terry is a key player. Key players for me are players that we can't really replace. When they don't play we lose something. Oscar isn't one of them for me. I don't really have a problem with players dropping in form like you say these things happen but this is Oscar's third consecutive season where he drops form in the second part of the season. That's my main problem with it. It's been a recurring thing. How long can we continue to start a player that everytime goes missing in the second part of the season ? It's true that benching him wouldn't be good for his development but the thing is i'm not looking after Oscar's best interest i'm looking at the teams best interest and that for me is looking for an improvement in the summer.

Slightly ? This is his 3rd season here and it's the 3rd time he's dropped form in the second part of the season. WNDS probably said it best. He's a player that doesn't really excel at anything. A jack of all trades but master of none so he needs to be in top form to contribute to the team. If he's not in top form he doesn't really have anything special to offer to the team. Now that wouldn't such a big problem if he were a consistent performer but he simply isn't. He usually goes off form in the second part of the season. Personally i'd keep Oscar but i'd be looking for an improvement. Pogba would be the dream signing. He's got everything you'd wish for in CM, he's a threat from long range, fast , physical, tall, high workrate and his technical ability is just ridiculous. Games against top teams : Pogba Matic in CM and Fabregas on the 10. Other games: Fabregas Matic in CM and Pogba on the 10. If Pogba costs too much i'd be looking for a more creative number 10. The way i see it Ramires Matic with Fabregas in front seems to be Mourinho's favorite line up against the top and sub top teams. So that leaves Oscar starting against the smaller and midtable teams. Teams that usually sit deep and where we need more creativity to break them down.

Well i do think he tries to curl it at times but his curling shot seems to lack power and he doesn't put enough curl on the ball to really get it past the defender and beat the goalkeeper. Like i said before i think he should work on his shot more. Could make a big difference goal wise.

Disgusting. Any chance it'll get even half the media exposure the paris train incident got ?

Think you need to watch it at a different angle. The goalkeeper and collins (don't know if got his name right ?) weren't in a position to cover the goal. There was 1 defender on the line and he shot it straight at him. Hazard should have finished after he takes his first touch. Willian should have scored. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYXTusrp66Q Watch at minute 8. It's a different angle behind the goal and you can see that the goalkeeper and collins aren't able to cover the goal. Bit annoyed with Hazard. Really wish he'd work on his shooting more and be more selfish and take the shot more often. Lost count of the amount of times he gets himself into a good position and doesn't take the shot. When he finally does take the shot he usually hits it against the defender. I think he's been amazing this season performance wise but his numbers read 14 goals & 8 assists in all competitions. While those are good numbers they could have been so much higher and they should be higher for a player of his quality. This last game against West Ham he could have had 3 goals ( header goal, chance where he cuts inside 7 metres away from goal and hits 1 of the defenders(7min 20 in the video), 1 on 1 at the end) and 3 assists (Ramires hit the post, Ramires header, Costa 1 on 1) yet he 's left with 1 goal from that game. It' s been a recurring thing this season, great performances but no goal or assist or just 1 goal or 1 assist while he could have had more. This season he could have easily broken past the 20 goals and 10 assists mark already. Really feel this should be the next step in his development, becoming more ruthless, more clinical.