Stingray

The guy had talent obviously ... I bet he will get more then his share of minutes in our pivot. I like his style, very composed! The kid can only grow. I say signing him is great long term vision!

It's ok mate, most people on here know KDB well and have followed him for some time.Every other week another Belgian seems to register to give a lecture about Hazard or KDB, as if they're complete unknowns to the rest of the world ^^ </blockquote>

Give the lad a break. Everyone was calling for him here. It was said numerous times he would need time and that he would indeed have rough patches. We are now 2 matches far in preseason. The amount of prematurity is astounding. He already did more then Ba and showed more promise than Torres ever did. It is hard for strikers in Chelsea. He will rock it for us this year - having great games and absolute stinkers - like all youngster do. I have faith.

NO it doesnt :-)

I don't know. The Bundesliga is rapidly gaining momentum. Saying the EPL is still 'Woooooow', is delusional and very self centered. We would be better to arm ourself instead of resting in the idea we rock. We don't anymore. slightly. We need to go to war. period.

He is. Plus, he kinda did the same in the Bundesliga. You know that league better than I do. I think the opposition was very, very decent there as well. :-)

Told you mate he was gold :-)

Shit .... Now i am going to actually make sense in my posts

Im watching the kids on my terrace mate. Lots of wine nearby. So im good !!

The vote from holiday. Hurray for crappy wifi! @hutcho . No doubt. Well deserved Ginger Beard!

Its more a divorce with a hefty law suit

1. So you edited. Period. You added stuff. So i did not lie at all. 2. I didnt brag. I made a joke about it in the pub. I tend to do that. Sorry if I called your bluff - apparantly thats a no go on the forum you visit. You take it badly i guess. I never made a personal comment (the postmodern followed by is a joke), you do it almost in every post now. So i will not reply any more. Im sure you will want the last word. Just put me on the ignore list considering how much I bother you. To every one else sorry for the extensive off topic.

Its nice to see you edited your previous posts to accomodate your point. Lol. End of discussion.

Im not tired at all. I am enjoying the sun. I just wanted to say your arguments 'adapt' as the discussion progresses. Like now and like was the case in the Hazard discussion and the Mata one before this one. It makes a nice discussion very difficult. I am not a mindreader, so if i misunderstood, it is because of lack of clarity or consistency Barbara. Nothing more.

So you say yes but no. Warm but cold, you mean one thing and then switch again ... How fickle. Sorry im too old for that i guess. Lets agree to disagree.

So you do think preferential treatment is ok for stars. The vid was about Mou teaching his philosophy to other trainers ( it is repeated in articles as well) the core concept is NO ego's, no preferential treatment (which does NOT mean you cant have a personalised way of handling individuals) the group always comes first. Yes i believe that was genuine.

Well, that's nice. Skip the parts you don't like and then create your own story as you go along. Aah postmodernism at its finest! Actually Mou said that litterally in the video on his coaching philosophy. In this part you seem to equate having a 'star' with giving him a preferential treatment. I agree on this definition. We should NOT have a star in term of special prtection, treatment ..... This was my point exactly. I do think you had a different deinition when agreeing with some on here before. This makes it diffult to debate actually if you change what you mean as you go along. Not a stab, mind you! Just an observation. I take it here you see a star of a team as someone that carries the team? Ok. But that is a star in a fans perspective, not IN the team. This is also where I very much disagree. Mata was crucial in our last campaign. This is not a personal opinion but a fact. He contributed most. In figures, stats, recognition, .... every thing. He was only surpassed a bit by Hazard at the end. Which is no suprise after such a long season on the one hand and Hazard picking up steam on the other hand.

huh? I didn't even read this thing you mentioned you said... was it in this thread? What I meant is the whole 'I wouldn't trade him for this, this and that player' (when we were discussing the other guys in other teams) because 1) it won't happen 2) if one of those guys come here, it doesn't mean they can't play by his side... I really have no idea what you're talking about, but I'll go back in the thread and try to see. Either way, I can't opinion because I didn't read.... if you want I can give you an opinion on that once I read said post My bad. I think you can apologize me a bit thinking it - after our recent pub clash.

It may or may not be directed towards me. About stars and the research i quoted - it is not a theory. It is actually a paradigm often used by evidence based sport directors in football. In Belgium Anderlecht and Bruges do rely on that research for example. In the case of Club Bruges I even contributed myself. Just in case you were having your postmodern jab at me. Cheers.

Uhm ..... If it is a rotating pool yes! I don't know jack shit about odds or what channel the game will be on though:-)

Exactly. Btw recent research into motivation (Deci and Ryan- on selfdetermination) has indicated that the global team performance drops when you single out - explicitly or implicitly - someone as a 'star'. I quite oppose that very idea actually. I also believe that part of Mou's succes is exactly this! A hardcore refusal to treat anyone like a star - only focus on the group performance. Well - food for a future article. I promise.

I do agree on this. Mata may not be Messi or Ronaldo like .... The proof of the pudding is in the eating and he delivered brilliantly last season. We can be a powerhouse with Mata in the team. I think this whole point is being polarized beyond reason. If Mata ever gets 'replaced' by someone else to 'better' the team, it will happen automatically - step by step. No need to fuss. Also: having one star in a team isn't a sure way to succes. It can be your downfall as well.

Mmm. When i come back from holiday I will look into writing articles as well. I am dying to write about the mental/motivational/coaching aspect actually. Would that be of interest as well? Or is that too unorthodox? I promise to be serious ..... Kind of .

It is the smart thing to do .... It must be such a good feeling for Kev too being able to train with such a monument. Real peer coaching. Awesome.

Aaah she 'learned' you special things? Exotic ones?