Magic Lamps

that article quotes 74m for Hazard. I think we can easily get 90 out of this deal. The question is however what do we need more Hazard or the money. And secondly we should only sell Hazard if we have a replacement lined up who is at least as good. What's all the cash worth when you buy a dozen average players with it like Liverpool and Tottenham did? They sold their ticket to CL football for a bunch of Lamelas and Lamberts. Welcome back to mediocrity. Hope we spare ourselves that relegation.

If there is one guy in the world who is as much of a choker as Fabregas, it is Özil.

erm because of his powerful driving runs through midfield, bulldozing players out of the way? Being a powerhouse doesn't mean you are not technically gifted. NOt sure what to make of it. City vs Arsenal for the title is like pest vs cholera. I would hate for Arsenal to break their duck, cos this is what they are all about. eternal chokers. HOwever City would mean 3 titles in 5 years, most dominant english side despite having won every of those title by default and sheer luck/incompetence of rivals. If only Leicester could go the distance. But my bet for them is still 6th, 5th if they bring in some decent players. But they could only win the title if they would somehow manage to sign an international class goalkeeper like Sirigu, Keylor Navas, Zieler or Leno, 2 proven defenders and a playmaker and incorporate them all seamlessly into their team.

yup. that contributed to our downfall. Jose obviously pressurized Hazard too much with that statement, he couldn't stand the expectation and crumbled pathetically. Just again emphasizes the gap in quality between Ronaldo, Neymar, Messi (and many more) and Hazard. But also a clear hint how easy it is to get it wrong with man management. When Jose applied that trick to other players they rose to greatness instead of crumbling. Same trick, weaker mind. If Hazard had responded to that the other way round, who knows, beloved Jose might still be in the dugout.

agree. perfect squad player. Benteke however is only a poor man's Lukaku and I said that when we still had Lukaku^^.Would be a decent squad player, too but for 30m+ we can do better

mesmerizing performance. always has been a real prospect. Still only 20. So sad we will never have the patience with him but look at Barca. Talents there only are required to be good enough to start aged 22-24. The same time should be given to our academy graduates. Ake is best in DM and LB, not exactly positions we got too much quality and cover, so why not giving it a shot in 1-1.5 years?

good run but what does M'Vila actually do there. Oscar is his opponent and he does not even bother to jog there, just casually strots around when he should track Oscar like mad. Sunderland's defending in that situation almost looks intentionally shit. Poor Oscar did not score there but Pantillimon - whilst an average goalie overall - is a monster 1 on 1. So Oscar had his 1 good game in 10 and people are digging out the KDB comparisons again? It is a funny world.

Still no idea what they see in him, prolly want to play him RB to replace Dani Alves. Could work in La Liga but was never going to work here. And even though he created 25 chances he only has 2 goals 4 assists in 20 games. Hardly breathtaking, so 25m should be a fair return for us, almost recovering the fee we paid. with the 2m loan fee, he cost us 4m net+wages which was totally worth the gamble and rejunevating Willian.

goal by Pedro, good cross by Ivanovic... a) the apocalypse is near Christmas came a tad early or c) Jose left ....

It is harsh to say the players raising the game is a sign of them having got Jose fired deliberately. Even players like Ivanvoic who Jose always sticked to played better than before. It is just something lifted from them that made them play more freely. Also the opponent was whack. I am sure we would have won this game under Jose, too.

Because of his amicable relationship with the Chelsea fans, his appointment might go some way appeasing the die-hard Mourinho supporters who will cry for mutiny now. I don't know if he still got it tactically but from that perspective he might be nice choice. Our goal this season apart from getting far in the CL and winning the FA Cup is however limiting the damage and keeping Hazard no matter how bad fans think his attitude is. And Hiddink will play a key role in that too.

Tibos major weakness was always his handling. He almost never catches a ball and often parries it back into the danger area. Really should do better with such soft headers from far out. But Azpi, who has endured some torrid 2weeks, might have been a bit closer to Borini, even though that is a bit harsh.

I did not participate in the blame game JOse vs the players vs the board. Pretty sure everyone is accountable for our lack of success this season to some extent. But accusing Mourinho of not having any attacking tactics in his locker or the players for performing badly on purpose is just nonsense. You don't become such a decorated manager without having any plan on how to implement attacking football whilst you dont become a professional footballer by playing to lose. In some cases the most obvious answer is the right one, so I'll quote the unforgettable Didier Drogba on this one again: The lack of confidence, complacency because of lack of signings and just having won the Premier League, the inability to process Jose's messages as a consequence of that, the lack of sharpness at the beginning of the season, tactical mistakes by Jose himself.... all little reasons that can make the difference between top 4 and bottom 5 in such a competitive league. No need to single out anyone for this. In the end when someone has to get sacked it will always be the manager because it is the most straightforward and easiest thing to do. Is this fair? Probably not. But it is harder to change those structures in football than to accept them. The managers, the fans always know this before. Just as in the Lampard to City and Arsenal to Cech cases we should stop lamenting over spilled milk and not discredit ourselves by heaping blame on a legend of the cub, which Jose still is. Gratitude for what he has done for the club and a honorable discharge are what he deserves. If we all move on, we'll sleep better. It is almost 6 in the morning here, so I will surely try to do so. KTBFFH

My only holdback against Guus is whether he is still up to it. He is 69, does not have won a title since that very FA Cup 2009 and his last few spells ended in disaster. I couldn't have more respect for what he achieved here + his sides either always managed to play nice football (like when he managed Turkey and Russia) or at least grinded out results (he had a marvellous winning percentage here). Also he was fine as a caretaker with players like Lamps, Ballack, Drogba, Essien who were grown man, mature characters and respected the experience and tactical nous of a man like Hiddink, I am not sure if our current group of boys with their fancy shoes, selfies, fragile mindset and volatile attitude will do so, too.

This. You get that Suarez example every time but it is by no means a legit comparison. best striker in the world at peak of his powers vs average midfielder with no technique and waning physical powers. It was a complete brainfart to extend Ramires contract, one of many by our board just as extending Mourinho's contract I warned people in advance in both cases but no one listened. You can always get a better midfielder than Ramires even without European football. Apart from winning the CL,this transfer window is the last chance to prevent us from getting set back for years. Our bonus is our loanees who might provide us with a new impetus

Mahrez. What a player he is. Forget Vardy, he is the man behindert Leicester's success. Brillant technical ability, pace finishing, still only 24. he is evrything Pedro is not.

If there is one thing you can learn from Arsenal is how you dispatch confident, rampant small sides: by quick, accurate passing. The only thing we got over them is technical ability and we should use that full throttle. swift, incisive, well-rehearsed combinations. Unfortunately I can not watch the game. Is there any place, where whole games are uploaded?

Not a good week but not solely at fault. He will only learn from that and return stronger. You only learn from your mistakes so this was actually the best that could happen as long as he it didn't happen here, which is exactly what loans are good for.

bizarre matchday so far. those two goals in added time at the City game + those two awkward ones in the Utd one. the mancs always used to get lucky in such circumstances.

easy groups for Germany and England, host luck for France and why the heck even bother having group F? Those team have nothing to do in the euros. The tournament is so bloated by the corrupted UEFA shit. How is the tournament even played? 12 teams qualifying and then what?

But but but Teixieira's position does not even exist is PSG's 4-3-3 and I doubt he would start on the wing there above Di maria and lucas. He really should come here and replace Oscar.

If we win CL and FA Cup we could finish one goal above relegation and I'd be fucking delighted....it's not even a debate. If we do not get into CL, we'd better not even get 6th and then it is irrelevant where we finish anyway.

yup. He was the only player on our team who had the confidence to score from that. It was not a super hard finish but a tricky one where much can go wrong. The goalkeeper was perfectly placed, the angle and the positions of the centrebacks only left him one option. He entered the box at full speed and still managed to control it and place it perfectly, with loads of power just into the near corner. Gorgeous finish. If he finished like that everytime he gets this kind of chance from the right wing, he would comfortably get 20+ goals this season.

I think it even was obvious in the game, too. Remember that deflected oscar shot. Oscar positioned himself in the pocket, matic won the ball, passed its straight to him, Oscar waits until Costa's run has dragged the defender, passes to Willian but instead of shooting he backheels it to put it on a plate for Oscar. The finish was unlucky but no way in hell this move was a coincidence. However, it is easier to pull those off against an opponent who actually tries to score a goal from open play and not parks the bus in front of goal. when teams just have 11 men in and around the box like Bournemouth the other day, it is hard to create chances. We still did, just our final ball was missing. Similar to our gameplan vs Barcelona and BAyern 2011. Make the area tight and allow many half-chances which a good goalkeeper all can take care of. with some luck you can win matches against a superior side this way. The point is we created enough chances to win the matches vs Tottenham and Bournemouth, too with Hazard, Ivanvovic and Costa all having finding space in front of goal numerous times. But until we start scoring those chances the corner is not turned.

He was at the game yesterday to support his Brazilian pals at CFC. A nice gesture, nothing more and nothing less.