Mr_President

Not sure what the issue is with quoting external text so I'll just copy-paste this.



The England U21 international admits he could stay on past that point, but he is determined to prove to Jose Mourinho that there is a place for him within the star-studded ranks in west London.



Chalobah said: “It puts us both in a good position, me and the club, we’ve just got to see how things go.

“I’m a Chelsea player and I’m always going to have that belief I can play for Chelsea, that’s not going to change.

“At the end of the day, there are world class players there at the minute and I’m still really young.



“I’m trying to learn as much as I can with all the loans I’ve had and take as much experience as I can out of it, so for me it is more about developing as a player and a person and I’ll always go back to Chelsea and compete for a place and if it doesn’t work out I’ll take the experience I’ve had on loan and from playing games to push my career forward.



“To try and come here and give a good impression could obviously put me in a better position when I go back, but at the minute for me it is more about coming here and keeping my head down and working as hard as I can and doing as best as I can for the club and pushing the club forward.



“Chelsea is my club and I think for every player that’s there, there is always the opportunity and I will always have that belief.

“For me coming up here now, I have to think less about Chelsea at the minute and just focus on Burnley because this is where I’m at until January, and possibly a bit longer, so I need to concentrate on Burnley.



“Playing in the Championship taught me a lot and Sean Dyche has given me the opportunity now to step up and test myself in the Premier League, so I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”





http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9471540/transfer-news-burnley-loanee-nathaniel-chalobah-sees-future-at-chelsea



Top attitude.

Martin Tyler saying 'WOW' to Di Maria's cross/goal was hilarious. I didn't ever hear him say that when Frank and others did it multiple times....
They are all going to get carried away with this and good luck to them. But today all I saw was an average team beating a very poor side. This result will paper over the cracks. Johnny Evans and Blackett and the likes in their defence, its just a matter of time.
I don't really hate Man Utd, never really have, that sort of emotion is reserved for Liverpool, but the media bias has always been embarrassing and I fear it's getting to those levels again with Van Gaal's 'philosophy' and his new stars. Let them ride this wave and then come crashing down when quality is presented before them. Costa vs Evans....I can't wait.

He is awesome today, very lively.

No idea but this is Wenger lmao.

No idea but this is Wenger lmao.

No idea but this is Wenger lmao.

True but still why would you play one of the best #10's in the world on the left? He isn't fast enough to be a winger imo.

Good players find space and get involved.

The number 10 role in our system is unorthodox. If you look at the skill set of the players we play there the most (Oscar and Willian), they aren't the most creative guys in our team or the best goal getters - they are there because they provide balance to the rest of the team. Their main task is not to create or cause havoc in the attacking third like your traditional number 10 does. Their role includes being the link player in the attacking third - i.e. providing the likes of Fabregas and Hazard (or Hazard and Costa/Luis and Hazard once Luis has settled in) the option to create passing triangles, dropping deeper to allow Fabregas to create things without worrying too much about his defensive responsibility (basically cover), whilst also leading the high press with our striker during the first phase of the high press. Creating, scoring etc. is secondary to the main task. They are essentially required to be all over the pitch to help with attacking, defending and pressing, in almost every area on the pitch, and help maintain the shape of our team tactically. Our #10 has to be an all rounder and that's exactly what someone like Oscar is.
Hazard's skill set would be wasted there in our current system. He's much more of an attacking threat out wide for us where he'll have more space to operate and do what he's best at - 1 on 1 dribbling, going past his man, creating and occasionally scoring goals. That's his main task, whereas helping out his left back and his defensive work rate is secondary. In the middle he would have to do a lot more of the latter and that would absolutely detract from his brilliance out wide in the current system Mourinho has implemented here.

I think you and other people are just misinterpreting his interview and his comments about wanting to win the ballon d'or and his attempt to reach the heights of Messi, Ronaldo.
Hazard has always considered himself to be more of a creator then a goalscorer. I think he's right about that and i think the majority of the Chelsea fans do too.
It's basically what Skipper said a couple of pages back : he'll never be a goalscoring machine.
I think Hazard realizes that. He knows that if he goes head to head, in terms of goals, with Ronaldo or Messi ( and other more natural goalscorers then Hazard) he is going to lose no matter how hard he tries, no matter how "consistent" he gets).
He simply lacks certain abilities to be able to compete with themin that aspect. However his abillities are far more suited for creating chances and getting a sh*t load of assists and that's exactly what he's aiming for.
I think he's a lot more likely to get 25+ assists then 25+ goals. For the rest all i'm seeing in that interview is Hazard complimenting Costa and Fabregas. Also i don't see anywhere in that interview where he says that he felt huge pressure last season.
"When the team needed him the most in the title run in he went MIA scoring literally only from penalties and assisting once or twice."
Don't you think that's incredibly unfair towards Hazard considering his top form the months before were the only thing that kept us in the title race for that long ?
I think the lack of end product from our other Am's and our strikers ended up costing us the league not Hazard.
"But for some he's already better than Ronaldo or just behind him and Messi when he isn't"
Please could you show me the quote of the person that said Hazard is already better then Ronaldo. I check the forums regularly and never seen anyone post that.

Lol. Hazard will never be Messi or Ronaldo. Neither will Neymar, or James, Gotze, Bale, etc. Know why? Cause they are arguably the greatest goalscorers ever. They are doing something we will never see again consistently so to compare other players to them is unrealistic and unfair. Hazard will win a Ballon d'Or, he's not lazy. Just cause someone jokes around and is funny doesn't mean he isn't driven and a hard worker. If you think Hazard will score 35 goals and get 25 assists you're gonna be disappointed. Ronaldo and Messi are the only players in La Liga history to score 40+ goals in a season. Don't set your expectations too high.
Read Excaliburs post. He said it better than anyone can.

Sifting through past pages, it's the same stuff that has plagued this board for majority of its lifespan. Hazard is never going to satisfy some of us if this continues. A verbose one, yes but needs to be added to the discussion.
(1) People expecting far too much too soon from Hazard by looking at him through the lens of Ronaldo and Messi. You....just....can't. Every player is different and every career takes different routes. Ronaldo and Messi have been at big clubs their entire careers. They've been playing Champions league since they were 18, making deep runs into the knock-out phases. Hell, both had even won the thing at 23. Hazard on the other hand has only played 2 seasons of Champions league in his ENTIRE career. He's only been in the knock-out phase one time in his career and that was last season were he also got injured as well. The Champions league is the highest level of football and Hazard has been unlucky (for various reasons, club, injuries etc) not to have played a lot in that competition yet. It's no surprise his development as a player is slower than Ronaldo and Messi. This is an incredibly important point.
There's also the fact that he's spent majority of his career in the French league while Ronaldo and Messi have been in two of the best leagues in the world for all their careers. This again is going to affect development and status as player as the French league doesn't offer the stiffest of opposition, to say the least. Ronaldinho and to a lesser extent, Zidane only showed their full class when they moved to better leagues. Like Jose said, "give him time".
(2) Overrating players from other clubs and underrating our own. This also applies to other players but especially to Hazard. Case in point, Robben has an outstanding World Cup and all of a sudden, he's the player Hazard should aspire to be. Bale scores in the Champions league final (despite doing nothing all game) and Hazard should be more like Bale. I even read someone put Bale in the same category as Ronaldo and Messi when making this comment. James freaking Rodriguez is amazing for Colombia and Hazard should apply himself more. And on and on and on.
(3) Criticizing him for being "inconsistent". The opposite is infact the case and the meaning of the world has become lost in football circles . There is a difference between being an inconsistent player (i.e Nani) and having a bad game/not performing at your normal level for a brief period. You can't be inconsistent and be considered a world class player or even a good one. Hazard, for such a young player has been considered a consistent player all through his career. He was certainly far more consistent at 23 than a certain Arjen Robben was. How quickly we forget. The inconsistent label was unfairly thrown at him in his first season in English football by the media hacks. It was his first season at the club, of course he was going to be shaky in his performances. All his achievements for Lille were simply thrown under the bus. Luckily, his performance level last season shut a lot of mouths in the media and we no longer hear a lot of that. But unfortunately, a small minority of forum members still repeat that nonsense.
(4) Not being a "leader". This apparently is the new one. A 23 year old player in his 3rd season with us is all of a sudden supposed to lead. I wonder why the same isn't demanded from some of his other teammates. And the big games that Hazard did lead in are not spoken of or simply forgotten. Let's forget Man City away and remember Crystal Palace away. Makes sense.

Shame to see you banned. I don't post here much but have always enjoyed reading your posts and arguments with other members..

I let myself get goaded by people calling me a 'keyboard warrior' (rather ironically).
I'd just prefer if mods/admins didn't say I threatened people. Take care of yourself mate, of course we had disagreements but I always respected and valued your opinion.
Same goes for many other people (off the top of my head Muzchap, Stingray, WHS, Tomo, Iseah, James,Special Juan, skipper, Choulo, Liquidator, Ollie, didierforever....yeah I know, Alex, so, so many others, all the Belgians,Hutcho, Jason, Chelsealegend11, Korea, Barbara,metsajcfc, sinene, jype, peace, dion, ldn blue, strike, robguima, amels, mhl47, mesousa, zolayes.....miss you all and to anyone I missed out I'm rushing because I'm about to get banned again but if you think I meant you then I certainly did and if you think I hated you then you're only half right).

Not going to question why TOPTB was banned because there was clearly 'behind the scenes' stuff via PM's. He didn't mention me in his little speech, but I have no problem with saying he was a quality poster. The difference between us however, is that I usually just pack my punches in the argument.. whereas he would attack the user too.

Interested to see how United line up this season and whether they can click. I don't think they'll be a threat to us or City for the title but their new signings will certainly take them up a level, if Van Gaal can get them to work together. Personally, I think they would be better off not trying to shoehorn Mata and Rooney into the same team, assuming Falcao is playing as the no. 9 and Van Persie is out injured (rumoured to need surgery...). With the amount of money spent and the quality they have brought it would be an unmitigated disaster if they didn't at least finish 4th IMO. It does sort of feel like they (whether this is Woodward, Van Gaal or some other executive) have taken a more 'Real Madrid' approach to transfers and this could only be the beginning of their spending spree. Their wage bill must be astronomical, but they can afford it because they are commercial titans, with FFP their to help cement the status quo. Funnily enough they have been the polar opposite to us this summer: we have had virtually no net spend, whilst we have bought with purpose and structure to adequately complete our team, instead of trying to fit (expensive) square pegs in round holes. They still could have done with a top quality CB and another midfield player but I'm sure Utd fans at the start of the window would have bitten your hand off for the players that they have brought in this summer.
Arsenal have looked dire since the Community Shield and their annual injury crisis is only just beginning; on that note, it makes me grateful for our medical team/training methods/whatever it may be that we don't pick up such awful and prolonged injuries to our players. Welbeck will be a good, not great, signing for them and will no doubt score goals playing as a CF. People always write Arsenal off for finishing 4th yet they always find a way, but really Utd should be finishing ahead of them with their respective squads and lack of European/league cup distraction.
If Van Gaal ditched the 3-5-2 that I am not at all a fan of and went with a more orthodox formation then their team, on paper, looks pretty impressive, and certainly enough for 4th spot:
-----------------Falcao-------------------
Di Maria----Mata/Rooney----Januzaj
----------Hererra-----Blind------------
Shaw---Jones------Rojo-----Rafael
-------------------DDG-----------------
That team isn't as good as ours, City's or Liverpool's (the latter being arguable, but Rodgers has got a good system going and has more experience with this squad) but it is still full of quality individuals and I fail to see how they won't at least expect 3rd or 4th. Some optimistic fans might argue that they should challenge for the title. They also have Van Persie to come back. I'm actually happy they signed these players, it makes the PL more interesting/exciting and I firmly believe if our domestic competition gets stronger then we naturally have to elevate our game and it is better for English clubs/PL fans in the grand scheme of things.
Can't wait for these shit international friendlies to be over and done with (won't even watch them or take notice) and get back to the real football.

Interested to see how United line up this season and whether they can click. I don't think they'll be a threat to us or City for the title but their new signings will certainly take them up a level, if Van Gaal can get them to work together. Personally, I think they would be better off not trying to shoehorn Mata and Rooney into the same team, assuming Falcao is playing as the no. 9 and Van Persie is out injured (rumoured to need surgery...). With the amount of money spent and the quality they have brought it would be an unmitigated disaster if they didn't at least finish 4th IMO. It does sort of feel like they (whether this is Woodward, Van Gaal or some other executive) have taken a more 'Real Madrid' approach to transfers and this could only be the beginning of their spending spree. Their wage bill must be astronomical, but they can afford it because they are commercial titans, with FFP their to help cement the status quo. Funnily enough they have been the polar opposite to us this summer: we have had virtually no net spend, whilst we have bought with purpose and structure to adequately complete our team, instead of trying to fit (expensive) square pegs in round holes. They still could have done with a top quality CB and another midfield player but I'm sure Utd fans at the start of the window would have bitten your hand off for the players that they have brought in this summer.
Arsenal have looked dire since the Community Shield and their annual injury crisis is only just beginning; on that note, it makes me grateful for our medical team/training methods/whatever it may be that we don't pick up such awful and prolonged injuries to our players. Welbeck will be a good, not great, signing for them and will no doubt score goals playing as a CF. People always write Arsenal off for finishing 4th yet they always find a way, but really Utd should be finishing ahead of them with their respective squads and lack of European/league cup distraction.
If Van Gaal ditched the 3-5-2 that I am not at all a fan of and went with a more orthodox formation then their team, on paper, looks pretty impressive, and certainly enough for 4th spot:
-----------------Falcao-------------------
Di Maria----Mata/Rooney----Januzaj
----------Hererra-----Blind------------
Shaw---Jones------Rojo-----Rafael
-------------------DDG-----------------
That team isn't as good as ours, City's or Liverpool's (the latter being arguable, but Rodgers has got a good system going and has more experience with this squad) but it is still full of quality individuals and I fail to see how they won't at least expect 3rd or 4th. Some optimistic fans might argue that they should challenge for the title. They also have Van Persie to come back. I'm actually happy they signed these players, it makes the PL more interesting/exciting and I firmly believe if our domestic competition gets stronger then we naturally have to elevate our game and it is better for English clubs/PL fans in the grand scheme of things.
Can't wait for these shit international friendlies to be over and done with (won't even watch them or take notice) and get back to the real football.

Interested to see how United line up this season and whether they can click. I don't think they'll be a threat to us or City for the title but their new signings will certainly take them up a level, if Van Gaal can get them to work together. Personally, I think they would be better off not trying to shoehorn Mata and Rooney into the same team, assuming Falcao is playing as the no. 9 and Van Persie is out injured (rumoured to need surgery...). With the amount of money spent and the quality they have brought it would be an unmitigated disaster if they didn't at least finish 4th IMO. It does sort of feel like they (whether this is Woodward, Van Gaal or some other executive) have taken a more 'Real Madrid' approach to transfers and this could only be the beginning of their spending spree. Their wage bill must be astronomical, but they can afford it because they are commercial titans, with FFP their to help cement the status quo. Funnily enough they have been the polar opposite to us this summer: we have had virtually no net spend, whilst we have bought with purpose and structure to adequately complete our team, instead of trying to fit (expensive) square pegs in round holes. They still could have done with a top quality CB and another midfield player but I'm sure Utd fans at the start of the window would have bitten your hand off for the players that they have brought in this summer.
Arsenal have looked dire since the Community Shield and their annual injury crisis is only just beginning; on that note, it makes me grateful for our medical team/training methods/whatever it may be that we don't pick up such awful and prolonged injuries to our players. Welbeck will be a good, not great, signing for them and will no doubt score goals playing as a CF. People always write Arsenal off for finishing 4th yet they always find a way, but really Utd should be finishing ahead of them with their respective squads and lack of European/league cup distraction.
If Van Gaal ditched the 3-5-2 that I am not at all a fan of and went with a more orthodox formation then their team, on paper, looks pretty impressive, and certainly enough for 4th spot:
-----------------Falcao-------------------
Di Maria----Mata/Rooney----Januzaj
----------Hererra-----Blind------------
Shaw---Jones------Rojo-----Rafael
-------------------DDG-----------------
That team isn't as good as ours, City's or Liverpool's (the latter being arguable, but Rodgers has got a good system going and has more experience with this squad) but it is still full of quality individuals and I fail to see how they won't at least expect 3rd or 4th. Some optimistic fans might argue that they should challenge for the title. They also have Van Persie to come back. I'm actually happy they signed these players, it makes the PL more interesting/exciting and I firmly believe if our domestic competition gets stronger then we naturally have to elevate our game and it is better for English clubs/PL fans in the grand scheme of things.
Can't wait for these shit international friendlies to be over and done with (won't even watch them or take notice) and get back to the real football.

Well, his sprint and back-heel assist capped off a bizarre yet awesome week to be a Chelsea fan. As stated above, he deserves praise for adding a semblance of defensive solidity in a period when Matic/Ramires couldn't control the game or keep it tight.

It was a quite ridiculous match! From the very first minute till the last. In a game that averaged a goal every 10 minutes, Chelsea eventually ran out 6-3 winner, but boy did we have to work for it!
Chelsea came today to what has been the "bogey ground" for them in the past few year, with the knowledge that our direct rivals, Manchester City, had lost at home to Stoke City. And the motivation to capitalize on that result was obvious from the first whistle. It took Diego Costa just 36 seconds to take advantage of a Fabregas through ball to open the scoring. The third quickest EPL goal in Chelsea's history.
If we needed an indication of how frantic this match is going to be, we surely had one. But the explosive start to the match did not end there. Two minutes later, Ivanovic found the net for the Blues again after a Ramires pass. Replay showed that Brainislav was marginally offside.
Unfortunately, that was not the only mistake the linesman will make. Minutes later, Tim Howard caught the ball clearly outside the box, after Azpilicueta tried to put Hazard through on goal. Linesman again made the wrong call before mistakenly giving an offside on Costa and then Distin in the second half.
But this was one match that could not be ruined by refereeing mistakes. After Ivanovic's goal, Everton responded quite brilliantly and put a lot of pressure on our back line while Chelsea looked very dangerous on the break. But it was not until the last seconds of the first 45 minutes that Mirallas managed to pull one back for the home team with a marvelous header, after Chelsea were caught out on the left hand side.
Mirallas' header brought Everton right back into the game and put an end to a very exciting first half; a half that would look pretty ordinary and boring compared to the crazy second 45 minutes of the match.
The second half started with Everton well on top and creating a few chances in the first ten minutes. Then it was Chelsea's turn to force the issue. Howard had to make 3 big save in the space of a couple of minutes, including a 1vs1 with Diego Costa. But it was not until the 67th minute that the flood gates opened.
Eden Hazard, who had been pretty quite in attack, took advantage of lapse in concentration for Seamus Coleman. He dribble past him with great pace into the box, and fired in a cross that ricocheted off Coleman and into the back of the Everton net. But Chelsea's relief was only momentary. Straight from the kick off, Matic was caught napping, creating a gap in our defense. A gap which Naismith exploited, slotting in Everton's second of the match, and throwing the game wide open again.
Five minutes later, Nemaja Matic received the ball on the edge of the box, took his time to sort his feet out, picked his spot and fired in a beautiful strike to the bottom corner to give Chelsea a 2-goal cushion again. But yet again, Everton would not go away. Less than two minutes afterwards, Eto'o brings the Toffees back into the game with a header from a FK.
And if the fainthearted had not suffered enough already, Chelsea scored again, almost from the kick off, through Ramires, after a quick give and go with Matic at the edge of the box. Ramires' goal was Chelsea's 5th of the night but also the fifth goal in the match in a crazy spell of under ten minutes!
Everton almost did it again through Baines, but this time Courtois made an excellent save onto the post to prevent more Chelsea hear-attacks. The final ten minutes were set up to be a thriller of their own. Everton attacked in numbers, but Jose Mourinho packed up the shop by bringing on Luis, Drogba and Mikel.
And as if we needed anymore sure signs of the insanity of this game, it was Mikel who ran at great pace to intercept the ball in Everton's half before providing a brilliant back-heel assist. Costa who opened the scoring in the first minute, was there at the end of Mikel's pass in the last one to close it and finally kill off a truly insane match of football.
It was one of those matches that reminded us why we all love football so much, why we all love Chelsea so much, and why the Premiere League is the most watched league in the world. And while it may have caused a few cardiac arrests around the world, this, now classic, match is the icing on the cake of what has certainly been a memorable weekend for the Stanford Bridge faithful.
Click here to view the article

Here are the fixtures' dates for our group games. Also stated the league games before and after those..
13/9 - Swansea (H)
17/9 - Schalke (H)
21/9 - Man City (A)
27/9 - Aston Villa (H)
30/9 - Sporting Lisbon (A)
5/10 - Arsenal (H)
18/10 - Crystal Palace (A)
21/10 - NK Maribor (H)
26/10 - Man United (A)
1/11 - QPR (H)
5/11 - NK Maribor (A)
8/11 - Liverpool (A)
25/11 - Schalke (A)
10/12 - Sporting Lisbon (H)

Very outdated view of London and the UK.

lets just say I listened to the first F A cup final after the war (WW2) Derby beat Charlton in extra time ..

Let the boss have the final (literally) word about it.
Asked about players coming later from holidays because of the WC José said how he's going to use them. He talked about their agreement, about how they can't exhaust Schurrle, Oscar, Ramires and Willian and then he made sure to conclude with 'Oscar again had a positive match' - something he didn't say about the others. 'Nuff said.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x24f4bw_mourinho-second-half-everything-was-us-hd_sport
Those are the facts I use to base my opinion in Oscar's role in the team. José keeps trusting him. With good reason imo.

Sigh can we lock this thread for a few days until people get some perspective...
As I mentioned earlier it's impossible for a player to be amazing for 90 minutes every match - what we are going to get this season is 15-20 minute spells where the magic happens and the remaining minutes spent defending and trying but not achieving much.
I think this is fair - what I would like to see is that value growing to 25-30 mins by the end of the season - that will be real progress.
Yes Oscar was poor, so was Hazard, Matic and Fabregas - BUT they all turned it round second half.
Ramires and William came on to tired legs and I like that - their pace really hammers home any advantage we have on the counter.
Let's support our players for a change - why do we always need a scapegoat for every performance?