Hkibou

And he's far from having the shots of CR7, the dribbling of Messi and the finishing of both. He's not at that level yet, lots of work ahead of him if he wants to even hope some day reach the level of those two. I hope he doesn't think he's already there, but i dont think so. He knows he can improve loads and loads. He has time for it, don't rush the comparisons In good or bad, comparisons between players don't lead nowhere anyway.

The deputy editor of the transfer market department for the newspaper L'Equipe said on TV that Suarez will go to Chelsea. He's probably the most ITK in terms of french clubs and Ligue 1 transfers... But i don't know anything about his Premier League sources, their reliablility, or why the hell he would know anything about Suarez that english media wouldn't. Maybe PSG made an attempt for Suarez and Liverpool replied that Chelsea have already made a higher bid or sthg like that ?

And most gifted too. Jealousy must run in the family

Hammertime has a different meaning then

You could implement the libero into the system as you say, but it would mean that Luiz is in no way considering the defensive line into consideration. He cannot be held responsible for any offside mistake of the defense. It'd be Mangala's and Ivanovic's job to maintain a straight last defensive line if Luiz is upfront helping the birth of the next offensive, and on the contrary to be aware any time Luiz crosses their line in the other direction, and then support him the best they can defensively. I too mourn libero sweepers. I really had hopes when I saw Ancelotti making Thiago SIlva his top priority, he had the talent as a tactician and the perfect squad players to implement the system. Silva, Matuidi and Ibrahimovic as a backbone is just perfect for that. It's a shame Silva won't have the chance to play libero sweeper, the beast he would be in that role... Mindblowing even to think of it.

Yes he would be great at it (that's why Barca want him) but it doesn't resolve the off side issue. The libero sweeper is quite free in his vertical movements on the pitch, he can ba at any times either ahead of the two other DC, between them, or behind both of them. Which makes it harder to read for Mangala and Ivanovic, very difficult to master, because it requires too much synchronization and knowing of your partners. In their first months it would be catastrophic.

I too like this formation, it's one of my favourite, and it guarantees some spectacular games. The problem is with the defenders though, who have to be extremely careful not to get caught in the offside trap, and always stay in the line. It's more difficult for the two last defenders (in my case Mangala - Ivanovic) because they're further apart from each other and have to cover the sides more than usual. That's why i'd rather have the third defenders behind the other two, which makes him oretty much the only one to care about offsides, but in Chelsea case it would be shameful given Luiz' skills as false n°6. I feel it's the formation which uses Chelsea players in their best way, except for Cole as you pointed it (not quite agree for Azpi, i see a good future for him as a Dani Alves kind of rightback).

He did 21 - 15 at the age of 20 in just 38 L1 matches. Not so far. This year for his first BPL season, 9 goals 13 assists. And how many penalties did Lampard score, 4 or 5 ? If it had been Hazard taking them he'd have 13 goals 13 assists. One can easy imagine he'll reach the 20-20 step pretty soon if he gets to take penalties and free kicks, maybe even 30-20 or vice versa, in a few years when he'll have fully matured.

I wonder if the best way to play Mazacar is very near to each other, like a deathly trident in the middle. When one of them runs deep or wide, the two others stay close to give more options to the holder of the ball. It would require very forward fullbacks (Azpi and Cole fit the profile) who would keep making runs behind the lines of defenses. It would mean quite an unorthodox formation, which could be very efficient if mastered : Given the caracteristics of Mata, Hazard, Cole, Azpi it seems only natural that the team will lean a bit toward the right flank. Azpi is more forward minded than Cole (doesn't mean than Cole will have to play with a leash though !), and Hazard is able to occupy more defenders when running toward his left flank than when it's Mata. What's very threatening in that formation is that Mata, Hazard, Oscar can constantly interchange their position without losing any efficiency ! KDB as supersub would fit right into one of the three roles of the trident. Schurrle i'm not so sure. More as a replacement to Azpilicueta then. But he would have to work on his defensive game.

This. So true, so obvious, and still no one cares to say it outloud (no one with a lot of audience). Incredible.

Messi, Iniesta, Hazard, Di Maria are quite the competitors for this title.

French media report he's not in Mourinho's plans, do they have concrete source to say so ?

There's no better proof of complete ignorance of football than skepticism about Hazard... Either that or it shows people like to disagree and be pessimistic only for the fun of it.

Hello everyone. I will be off topic but not as much as it seems. I'm here to ask you a favor which could do good to both Chelsea and Eden Hazard in the future. And i know there are many readers sympathetic to the LOSC on this thread, i strongly advise to hear me out Lucas Digne is currently at the center of all preoccupations in the french media, who are eager to see him move to PSG this summer. French media are lobbying for his transfer, making theories based on a financial crisis at Lille (that has yet to be proven), totally disregarding the fact that Lucas has said many times he is well in Lille and does not intend to move in the near future. But PSG seems very insistant and media report that he has been offered 4 times his wages in Lille if he were to sign for Paris (some french media claim he already signed a pre-contract) ! Hence we Lille fans are worried, and i have decided to try a hail mary pass given the desperate situation. I've created this morning a facebook page to write an open letter to Lucas Digne, in which I ask him to stay and explain to him why such an early move to PSG is not, against what he may have been repeatedly told, the best career choice. Other supporters can add their own message to Lucas, hoping he will see them. In order to have the slightest chance to have any incidence on his choice, it has to gain in visibility very quickly. In my letter to him, I advise him to stay at least one year or two in Lille (he's only 19) and to consider offers from european top clubs then, who will offer challenges as interesting, financially and sportively as interesting as PSG. I advocate for a move to Chelsea in one or two years to follow the steps of Ashley Cole and recreate the briliant left side that he formed with Hazard. Trust me, Lucas Digne is the top left fullback of his generation along with Alaba. The youth, potential and physical strength of this left side would be damn exciting. Help me help you ! Please like this page and share to anyone who might be sympathetic to our cause https://www.facebook...tersALucasDigne Maybe it will do Chelsea good in a few years ! Thanks for hearing me out

Hello everyone. Lucas Digne is currently at the center of all preoccupations in the french media, who are eager to see him move to PSG this summer. French media are lobbying for his transfer, making theories based on a financial crisis at Lille (that has yet to be proven), totally disregarding the fact that Lucas has said many times he is well in Lille and does not intend to move in the near future. But PSG seems very insistant and media report that he has been offered 4 times his wages in Lille if he were to sign for Paris (some french media claim he already signed a pre-contract) ! Hence we Lille fans are worried, and i have decided to try a hail mary pass given the desperate situation. I've created this morning a facebook page to write an open letter to Lucas Digne, in which I ask him to stay and explain to him why such an early move to PSG is not, against what he may seem he may have been repeatedly told, the best career choice. Other supporters can add their own message to Lucas, hoping he will see them. In order to have the slightest chance to have any incidence on his choice, it has to gain in visibility very quickly. In my letter to him, I advise him to stay at least one year or two in Lille (he's only 19) and to consider offers from european top clubs then, who will offer challenges as interesting, financially and sportively as interesting as PSG. I strongly advocate for a move to Chelsea in one or two years to follow the steps of Ashley Cole and recreate the briliant left side that he formed with Hazard. Trust me, Lucas Digne is the top left fullback of his generation along with Alaba. The youth, potential and physical strength of this left side would be damn exciting. Help me help you ! Please like this page and share to anyone who might be sympathetic to our cause https://www.facebook.com/LettresDesSupportersALucasDigne Maybe it will do Chelsea good in a few years ! Thanks for hearing me out

Loanee next season like De Bruyne don't you think ?

Fernando Torres is just like our president François Hollande. He's there, it's done, and he won't budge. Just gotta deal with it. In a few years it'll all be just bad memories

I talk about quantity and qality. Malouda, Benayoun, Marin, they didn't provide much. Only Moses was a serious alternative as attacking midfield. Schurrle, KDB instead of Malouda, Benayoun, Marin is less players but much more depth in the squad

What players would you have wanted instead ? Seems to me the stake of this summer for Chelsea is not quantity but quality. Bringing back the loanees already provides the depth that lacked during the season. All there's to do is to spot the key position that need improvement (ST, DM) and invest in top quality players there. Spending 50m on Cavani won't prevent other two, three transfers more, and that's all that's needed.

-------------------------------------- Cech (?) --------------------------------------- ------------------- Ivanovic/Cahill ----- Terry (Chalobah, Kalas) --------------- Alves/Azpi ------------- Luiz (Mikel, Ake) ---------- Cole (Shaw, Bertand) ------- KDB (Ramires) ---- Oscar (Lampard) ---- Mata (Schurrle) ------- --------------------------------- Hazard (Michu) --------------------------------- -------------------------------------- Ibra (Ba) -------------------------------------- Lukaku, Courtois on loan again. Marin, Moses kept as back ups.

------------- Fellaini or Witsel ------------ ----- Dembélé ------------- De Bruyne --------- - Mirallas ------------------------------ Mertens - -------------- Lukaku or Benteke --------------- Frankly, Belgium doesn't need Eden to crush Serbia, is it that important for him to play and risk his injury getting worse ? I don't think so.

In 2 years Lukaku will be a beast

New video by one of the best there is (Rom7ooo), enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtekaJutbOg

I live faaaaaaaaaaaaaar away from your culture mate You are very wrong if you think the media hype in France is comparable to what happens in USA around basketball. My club is very familial, near of the supporters, we live in a quite small city, it has almost nothing in common. As for Messi, ZZ, CR7, you are just being offended because you want to. Or you just didn't get me, but i find this hard to believe. I don't despise them, they're great and i had a Zidane poster in my bedroom for years. Everyone has a dark side. I'm just saying Eden's one is not relevant with football (and frankly i don't know which one it is)